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THE 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

OF 

ITHURIEL 

[A  Chapter  in  Psychology] 


By  IRONQUILL 


SECOND  EDITION 


MONOTYPED    AND    PRINTED     15V 

CRANE  &  COMPANY 

TOPEKA,   KANSAS 
1909 


EXPLAISTATIO:^. 


The  reason  this  book  is  called  a  '^ Second  Edition''  is  this: 
The  original  manuscript  was  prepared  prior  to,  and  finished  in, 
the  year  1890.  The  writer  then  being  busy,  the  publication  was 
delayed.  Afterwards,  in  the  spring  of  1905,  the  writer  took 
the  manuscript  to  New  York  City  for  pubHcation.  In  the  New 
York  Central  Depot,  in  March  of  that  year,  the  package  con- 
taining the  manuscript  was  stolen  immediately  after  his  arrival, 
while  he  was  sending  off  some  telegrams  in  the  crowded  depot. 
No  copy  had  been  preserved.  After  much  effort  and  expense 
in  trying  to  regain  the  lost  manuscript,  the  writer  being  unsuc- 
cessful set  about  its  reproduction,  which  was  finished  in  1909. 
From  time  to  time  brief,  fugitive  and  anonymous  pieces  have  ap- 
peared in  newspapers,  showing  that  some  one  was  furtively 
using  the  lost  manuscript.  The  writer  believes  it  to  be  in  a 
certain  New  York  newspaper  office,  but  he  has  failed  in  his 
efforts  to  establish  that  fact.  Hence  this  book  is  called  a 
second  edition. 


997260 


TABLE  OF  COKTENTS, 


Sec.  Page 

1.  Introduction  to  Preface, 3 

2.  Preface. — The  Atom, — Divisibility, 8 

3.  Shape  of  the  Atom, 9 

4.  Color  of  Atoms, 9 

5.  Weight  of  Atoms, 10 

6.  Atomic  Solidity, 11 

7.  Texture  and  Quality, .     • 11 

8.  Size  no  Criterion, 12 

9.  Atomic  Motion, 13 

10.  All  Nature  Thinks, 14 

11.  Atomic  Resistance, 14 

12.  Space  and  Vacuum,        15 

13.  Attraction, 16 

14.  The  Gift  of  Direction, 17 

15.  Resultant  Motion, 18 

16.  Recapitulation, 19 

17.  The  Ion, 19 

18.  The  Molecule, 21 

19.  The  Corpuscle,         22 

20.  Atomic  Chiefs, 23 

21.  Minerals, \      ...  24 

22.  Vegetable  Life, 25 

23.  Illustration,  a  Walnut  Tree, 26 

24.  Animal  Life. — The  Lime  Atom, 27 

25.  Leadership, 28 

26.  The  Upward  Current, 29 

27.  Disintegration, 30 

28.  Invention, 31 

29.  Animals,  Bad  and  Good, 32 

30.  The  Man,        33 

31.  The  Ego-Atom, 34 

32.  The  Man-Empire, 35 

33.  Food, 36 

(5) 


G TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

34.  The  Soul, 38 

35.  The  Mind, 39 

36.  The  Nerves, 40 

37.  Language, 41 

38.  Sensation, 42 

39.  Ideas,        43 

40.  Health, 44 

41.  Disease,  45 

42.  Action, 47 

43.  Messengers, 48 

44.  Memory, 49 

45.  Death 50 

46.  Sleep, 51 

47.  Ghosts, 52 

48.  Angels, 53 

49.  Future  Memory, 54 

50.  The  Scheme  of  Probabilities, 55 

51.  Sex,  56 

52.  Persistency  of  Sex, 57 

53.  Sex  Atoms, 58 

54.  Matter  and  Thought, 59 

55.  Telepathy, 60 

56.  The  Telepathic  Gift, 62 

57.  Emotions, 63 

58.  Force, 64 

59.  Light,    .      .  65 

60.  Heat,         66 

61.  Fire,  67 

62.  Electricity, 69 

63.  Thinking, 70 

64.  Thought, 71 

65.  Free  Will, 72 

66.  Prayer, 73 

67.  Answers  to  Prayer, 74 

68.  Miracles, 75 

69.  Civilization, 76 

70.  Evil,  77 

71.  Devil, 78 

72.  God, 79 

Autobiography, 83 


PREFACE  TO  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 
ITHURIEL. 


Section  1. — Introduction  to  Preface.  Before  me,  Ironquill, 
personally  appeared  Ithuriel,  the  archangel,  who  said  to  me, 
''Publish  what  I  shall  tell  you."  Then  upon  a  tablet  of  many 
leaves  he  began  to  write,  reading  aloud  as  he  wrote.  Listening, 
I  gazed  at  him  steadfastly  as  he  spoke,  noticing  also  that  he 
wrote  rapidly  with  a  fountain  pen  of  crystal,  filled  with  purple 
ink.  When  he  began  he  had  the  seeming  of  a  young  man,  and 
as  he  wrote  he  appeared  to  grow  old,  and  when  he  finished  in  an 
hour  he  seemed  to  have  the  appearance  of  great  age.  Then  he 
handed  me  the  tablet,  saying,  ''This  is  my  biography;  you 
know  something  of  it — we  have  been  brothers  thrice."  He  de- 
parted through  the  door,  which  he  did  not  open,  as  goes  a  shadow 
through  glass.  Then  upon  a  typewriter  I  began  to  transcribe 
the  writing,  turning  page  on  page.  And  as  I  turned  the  pages 
the  writing  which  had  been  transcribed  disappeared,  leaving 
an  odor  as  of  crab-apple  blossoms ;  and  when  finished  the  paper 
from  which  I  copied  began  to  fade  away  and  all  that  was  left 
was  a  heap  of  tiny  pelHcles,  which  afterwards  dissolving,  dis- 
appeared. Then  I  sent  the  autobiography  to  a  magazine  for 
publication,  but  it  was  returned  charged  with  being  incompre- 
hensible; then  I  sent  it  to  another  magazine  and  it  was  again 
returned,  the  sender  saying  he  could  not  understand  it,  and  the 
manuscript  was  marked  with  queries  and  interrogatories.    Then 

(7) 


$^%:  :^:  y^'^}T'Hk  AmOBJOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

I  determined  to  write  a  preface  to  it  and  print  it  myself.  The 
preface  follows  herewith;  it  is  much  longer  than  the  autobiog- 
raphy, and  it  must  needs  be  so,  because  there  is  so  much  to  ex- 
plain. But  when  you  have  read  the  preface  you  can  under- 
stand the  autobiography  and  many  things  else. 

Sec.  2. — Preface. — The  Atom. — Divisibility.  If  into  a  dark- 
ened room  a  slender  ray  of  sunshine  be  admitted,  we  see  myriads 
of  motes  which,  in  the  broad  daylight,  are  invisible.  As  we 
watch  them  floating  in  the  beam  of  light,  in  the  darkened  room, 
they  seem  to  be  alive  and  to  hover,  undisturbed  by  the  power 
of  gravity,  hke  flocks  of  blithe  and  airy  birds.  These  motes 
are  the  smallest  visible  particles  of  matter;  yet,  are  huge  in 
comparison  with  the  atom. 

In  order  to  get  an  idea  of  the  atom  let  us  subdivide  the  mote. 
Matter  is  not  forever  divisible.  It  cannot  be  divided  until 
nothing  is  left.  It  cannot  be  destroyed  by  subdivisions.  There 
is  a  Hmit,  and  there  is  an  ultimate  form  of  matter  which  is  in- 
capable of  further  subdivision.  This  form  we  call  the  ^^atom." 
When  a  particle  of  matter  has  been  subdivided  as  long  as  the 
human  mind  can  contemplate,  then  what  remains  is  'Hhe  atom." 
To  illustrate:  Suppose  we  take  the  smallest  mote  that  is  float- 
ing in  the  sunlight,  if  we  subdivide  it  into  a  thousand  equal  parts 
we  have  divided  it  apast  microscopic  detection.  Then  if  wt 
subdivide  each  part  into  a  thousand  we  have  a  million  parts; 
this  is  as  far  as  an  abstraction  may  ordinarily  go.  If  now  we 
subdivide  each  of  these  parts  into  a  million  other  parts,  then 
we  have  divided  the  mote  into  a  thousand  billion  parts,  and  this 
is  as  far,  yes  much  farther,  than  any  mind  can  contemplate. 
Here  we  may  stop,  and  call  the  resultant  parts,  which  as  to  us 
cannot  exist,  except  in  contemplation  of  mind,  an  ^^atom." 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 9 

It  is  the  end  of  all  subdivision.     It  is  the  smallest  form  of  mat- 
ter. 

Therefore  we  say,  b}^  way  of  definition:  An  atom  is  infi- 
nitely small,  and  is  incapable  of  subdivision. 

Sec.  3. — Shape  of  the  Atom.  If  the  shape  of  the  atom  were 
not  round  it  would  so  become.  Roundness  gives  the  most  vol- 
ume for  the  least  surface.  If  there  were  corners  or  angles  to  an 
atom  they  might  be  broken  off,  which  would  show  the  atom  to 
be  still  divisible,  which  is  contrary  to  our  definition.  The  round 
shape  gives  more  fluidity,  reduces  the  probability  of  friction,  and 
increases  the  activity  of  the  atom.  We  would  as  soon  think  of 
a  square  rain-drop  as  a  square  atom. 

Again,  if  one  atom  were  larger  than  another  it  would  show 
that  the  larger  could  be  reduced  in  size,  and  therefore  divisible, 
which  is  contrary  to  our  definition;  hence  they  must  be  all  of 
the  same  form  and  size. 

Therefore  we  say :  Atoms  are  round  and  uniform  in  size. 

Sec.  4. — Color  of  Atoms.  Atoms  have  no  quality  which 
may  be  known  as  color.  The  phenomenon  of.  color  is  something 
which  pertains  to  the  individual  man  who  experiences  it.  That 
which  looks  red  to  one  man  may  look  green  to  another.  In 
fact,  all  is  black  and  dark  around  us.  When  a  missile  is  hurled 
at  us,  and  smites  us,  it  produces  a  result  called  ''pain";  when 
another  substance,  such  as  a  sunbeam,  strikes  us  in  a  certain 
place,  the  eye,  it  produces  another  result,  called  'Might."  We 
will  treat  of  this  subject  further  on.  Color  is  an  effect  produced 
upon  the  eye  of  some  animal  that  can  see.  lA  the  dark,  or  to  a 
blind  man,  all  substances  are  of  the  same  color.  So  color  is  not 
a  quality  of  the  substance  seen,  but  a  picture  in  the  eye  of  the 
see-er.    Again,  if  the  primordial  atoms  were  all  of  the  same 


10  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  IT H URIEL. 

shape  and  substance  they  would  be  uniform  m  color,  if  any  they 
had;  that  is  to  say,  they  would  all  look  alike.  Color,  as  it  does 
not  pertain  to  the  object,  is  not  objective;  but,  as  it  pertains 
to  the  beholder,  is  wholly  subjective. 

Therefore  wt  say :  The  atom  is  without  color. 

Sec.  5. — Weight  of  Atoms.  Weight  is  defined  to  be  the 
measure  of  the  earth's  attraction.  At  the  center  there  is  no 
weight,  and  the  f  rther  a  substance  is  removed  from  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth  the  less  the  attraction.  But  this  explanation 
does  not  explain.  Why  the  attraction?  Simply  this :  all  atoms 
are  more  or  less  gregarious.  They  come  to  have  their  hkes  and 
disHkes,  their  ambitions  and  experiences.  They  may  swarm 
together  like  bees.  They  unite  according  to  their  experiences; 
and  according  to  their  habits  formed  from  such  experiences. 
They  make' the  hard  granite,  the  oak  tree,  the  mammal.  Planets 
are  but  cities  in  the  great  ocean  of  space,  builded  from  migratory 
atoms.  As  some  atoms  are  less  gregarious  than  others,  just 
as  pelicans  are  less  gregarious  than  crows,  it  transpires  that 
some  atoms  have  a  lesser  measure  of  the.  earth's  so-called  at- 
traction than  others.  Therefore  weight  is  not  a  quality  or  at- 
tribute of  matter,  but  a  mental  characteristic  of  matter,  grow- 
ing out  of  the  experience  of  the  atom. 

Atoms  have  repulsions  as  well  as  attractions,  the  unlike 
repels  the  unlike,  and  as  atoms  come  to  have  different  experi- 
ences, the  different  aggregations  differ  in  experience,  gregarious- 
ness,  and  hence  attraction.  We  will  hereafter  show  how  ex- 
perience comes  to  pass  which  shapes  so  strongly  the  mental  con- 
dition of  the  atom.  For  the  present  we  will  confine  ourselves 
to  saying  that  weight  is  an  attribute  of  mind  and  not  a  property 
of  matter.     I  love  to  visit  my  friends,  never  my  enemies :   this 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. U 

impulse  to  visit  is  the  phenomenon  of  attraction.  The  measure 
of  an  impulse  is  called  weight ;  but  it  does  not  apply  to  matter 
as  one  of  its  permanent  and  fundamental  properties. 

Therefore  we  say:  Atoms  have  no  such  separate  property 
as  weight. 

Sec.  6. — Atomic  Solidity.  An  atom  cannot  be  either  per- 
forated;  penetrated,  abraded,  bruised^  or  crushed,  because  if  so 
it  would  be  divisible.  The  primordial  atom  was  round  and  in- 
destructible. It  was  harder  than  adamant,  because  adamant 
is  merely  a  gregarious  combination  of  similar  atoms.  There  is 
nothing  to  which  the  hardness  of  the  atom  may  be  compared. 
If  it  has  always  existed,  or  if  it  is  always  hereafter  to  exist,  its 
durability,  solidity  and  hardness  must  be  infinite.  If  it  were 
placed  upon  an  anvil  and  struck  at  with  a  steel  hammer,  the  atom 
would  not  be  broken.  The  atom  would  fall  down  through  the 
yawning  chasms  in  the  metal  of  the  anvil.  As  well  might  one 
seek  to  break  a  grain  of  sand  by  placing  it  upon  the  Enchanted 
Mesa  of  Arizona  and  beating  it  with  the  bushy  top  of  a  giant 
sequoia.  Fire  cannot  burn  the  atom,  because  fire  is  made  of 
atoms;  chemicals  cannot  change  or  destroy  it,  because  the 
chemicals  themselves  are  composed  of  similar  atoms.  Time  can- 
not change  the  atom,  because  it  loses  nothing  by  time,  being 
indivisible.     It  must  be  indestructibly  hard  to  be  indivisible. 

Therefore  we  say :   Atoms  are  infinitely  hard. 

Sec.  7. — Texture  and  Quality.  In  the  beginning  there  were 
Space,  Time,  and  Matter.  The  matter  was  uniform  in  char- 
acter. The  primordial  atoms  were  all  alike  in  substance,  texture, 
form,  and  quality.  By  the  term  "primordial  atoms"  we  mean 
matter  as  hereinbefore  described,  in  its  ultimately  divided  and 
originally  tenuous  form. 


12 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 

There  are  many  things  that  are  unthinkable  and  unknow- 
able. The  origin  of  matter  is  unthinkable.  It  was  either 
created  out  of  nothing  or  else  it  always  existed.  Both  of  these 
cannot  be  true ;  one  of  them  must  be  true ;  but  each  is  unthink- 
able. Some  unthinkable  propositions  are  less  unthinkable  than 
others,  and  we  may  adopt  the  one  least  unthinkable.  As  we 
look  around  us  we  see  that  everything  has  a  beginning;  hence 
we  may  say  of  matter  '^in  the  beginning."  If  matter  has  all 
been  made  out  of  the  same  stuff  [nothing]  it  would  be  uniform 
in  texture,  and  if  it  has  always  existed  it  must  have  been  origi- 
nally all  alike.  ^'Equality  is  Equity/'  and  so  we  predicate  of 
the  primordial  atoms, — ^'They  were  all  alike."  When  we  say 
"in  the  beginning"  we  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  ever  was  a 
beginning,  so  called,  but  we  mean  by  that  expression,  time  as 
far  back  as  the  mind  can  grasp  or  think, — the  ^'beginning"  of 
our  comprehension. 

Therefore  we  say :  Primordial  atoms  were  uniform  in  shape, 
size,  substance,  texture,  and  quality. 

Sec.  8. — Size  no  Criterion.  In  the  ocean  we  see  an  enor- 
mous fish, — the  whale.  In  an  aquarium  we  see  a  goldfish.  The 
brain  of  the  whale  is  a  million  times  greater  than  that  of  the 
goldfish,  and  yet  the  capacity  and  intelligence  of  the  two  are 
equal,  as  far  as  we  can  see ;  with  the  odds,  if  any,  in  favor  of  the 
goldfish.  In  a  drop  of  vinegar  the  microscope  shows  us  a  sportive 
little  fish  with  a  capacity  and  intelUgence  apparently  equal  to 
that  of  the  goldfish  or  the  whale.  The  drop  of  vinegar  is  his 
ocean,  and  we  watch  him  with  delight  because  his  motions  show 
a  life  of  vigor  and  activity. 

How  many  times  man  might  repeat  this  descending  analogy 
of  life,  if  our  microscopes  were  stronger,  we  do  not  know.     Again, 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 13 

the  brain  of  an  elephant  is  a  million  times  larger  than  the  brain 
of  an  ant;  yet  the  latter  far  exceeds  the  former  in  knowledge 
and  capacity.  The  ant  knows  a  thousand  times  more ;  it  builds 
cities;  organizes  armies;  captures  and  works  slaves,  and  pro- 
vides for  the  future.  If  the  ant  were  as  large  as  the  elephant 
the  existence  of  man  on  the  globe  would  be  one  of  difficulty. 
Let  us  repeat  the  descending  analogy :  Is  there  anything  a  million 
times  smaller  than  the  ant  that  has  a  thousand  times  as  much 
intelligence  ?  Yes !  Everlastingly  Yes  !  We  will  refer  to  this 
subject  again. 

Therefore  we  say :  Size  has  no  relation  to  intelligence. 

Sec.  9. — Atomic  Motion.  If  the  earth  revolves  upon  its 
axis,  and  also  revolves  around  the  sun,  and  the  sun  is  also  moving 
through  space,  then  the  earth  has  at  least  three  distinct  motions. 
An  atom  has  many  more  than  the  sun.  But  to  begin :  each 
atom  has  the  power  of  self-motion.  It  can  whirl  upon  its  axis 
when  and  as  rapidly  as  it  pleases;  and  why  not?  It  is  sur- 
rounded by  vacuum,  and  there  is  no  resistance.  All  space  is 
not  filled  with  atoms,  as  we  shall  see.  It  is  as  easy  to  whirl  a 
milHon  times  a  second  as  a  hundred,  if  there  is  no  resistance. 
The  atom  can  go  where  it  pleases.  It  could  through  vacuum 
wing  a  swift  rectilineal  flight  for  a  million  years.  Motion  is  the 
mere  product  of  will  when  there  is  no  resistance.  Being  in  San 
Francisco,  suppose  I  wish  to  go  to  New  York.  If  there  were  no 
resistance  I  would  upon  wishing  it  instantly  arrive  in  New  York. 
And  why?  Because  there  are  only  two' steps  to  be  taken :  first, 
to  will  to  go ;  second,  to  overcome  the  resistance.  When  I  will 
to  go  to  New  York  I  have  taken  the  first  step,  I  have  willed  it ; 
there  being  no  resistance,  no  second  step  is  necessary,  and  as 
soon  as  I  have  willed  it  I  am  in  New  York.    The  flight  and 


14 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL.       

motion  of  an  atom  is  a  mere  matter  of  will,  and  it  can  stop  its 
motion  as  instantaneously  as  it  originates  it.  Concerning  re- 
sistance we  will  speak  later. 

Therefore  we  say :  Atoms  have  self-inherent  power  to  move 
or  stop. 

Sec.  10. — All  Nature  Thinks.  In  the  atom  is  the  beginning 
of  thought.  All  nature  thinks.  To  a  greater  or  less  degree  all 
matter  is  intelligent.  Animals  think  and  reason ;  the  vegetable 
world  has  knowledge  and  thought ;  the  mineral  w^orld  has  less, 
but  still  it  knows  and  thinks.  The  primordial  atom  started 
once  with  only  mere  consciousness.  It  could  only  say  ^'I  am." 
Ages  afterward  it  could  say  to  itself  "  1  am  immortal." 

In  a  wonderful  way,  as  we  shall  see,  has  this  poor  little 
feeble-minded  atom  worked  out  the  first  chapter  of  its  destiny. 
It  has  learned  to  think ;  it  has  acquired  intelligence ;  it  knows 
and  reasons.     Intelligence  is  the  power  to  know  and  think. 

Therefore  we  say:  All  atoms  are  conscious.  Again:  All 
atoms  may  become  in  some  degree  intelligent. 

Sec.  11. — Atomic  Resistance.  The  atom  has  power  upon 
its  own  volition  to  whirl  itself  with  inconceivable  velocity.  It 
can  begin  and  stop  instantaneously.  If  it  revolves  a  million 
times  a  second  it  can  stop  inside  of  its  one  revolution.  It  can 
wing  an  instantaneously  rectilinear  flight  of  greatest  velocity 
and  stop  within  the  limit  of  its  one  diameter.  It  may  be  asked : 
How  can  it  stop  so  soon? 

The  difficulty  in  stopping  a  substance  in  its  rapid  flight  is 
the  diflficulty  of  overcoming  the  acquired  momentum.  In 
whirling  rapidly  the  obstacle  would  be  the  same.  The  diflS- 
culty  in  obtaining  a  rapid  initial  velocity  would  be  in  over- 
coming the  resident  inertia.     But  what  is  ^'Momentum"  and 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 15 

what  is  '^ Inertia"?  Momentum  is  the  product  of  the  weight 
multipHed  by  the  velocity.  But  the  atom  (as  we  have  seen, 
Sec.  5)  has  no  weight,  therefore  can  have  no  momentum.  So, 
if  two  atoms  should  collide  the  destructive  characteristic  of 
^'momentum"  would  be  wanting.  Suppose  that  two  cannon- 
balls  should  meet  in  mid-air,  and  suppose  that  each  of  them 
weighted  absolutely  nothing:  what  would  happen?  Each 
would  lose  its  velocity  and  stay  there.  Again,  Inertia  is  an  ex- 
hibition of  the  gregarious  faculty  or  habit  of  the  atom.  The 
atom,  as  long  as  it  desires  association  and  seeks  it  and  has  it, 
displays  the  quality  which  we  call  Inertia.  But  as  soon  as  it 
changes  its  wish,  and  desires  freedom  and  un-association,  the 
characteristic  of  Inertia  becomes  immediately  wanting;  the 
atom  then  no  longer  has  Inertia.  The  moment  that  momentum 
and  inertia  are  paralyzed,  then  atomic  motion  is  such  as  the 
atom  wishes  it  to  be;  and  resistance,  from  those  sources,  has 
disappeared.  Atomic  motion  may  meet  resistance  through  the 
obstruction  caused  by  the  confederacy  of  other  atoms,  but  not 
from  the  causes  mentioned. 

Therefore  we  say:  Atomic  motion  is  not  hampered  by  the 
existence  of  either  inertia  or  momentum. 

Sec.  12. — Space  and  Vacuum.  Space  extends  everywhere 
and  is  eternally  infinite.  But  matter  is  not  theoretically  in- 
finite, because  if  the  number  of  atoms  were  infinite  they  would 
of  necessity  be  in  such  number  as  to  fill  infinite  space.  If  all 
space  were  filled  with  atoms  they  would  be  like  sand  in  a  box, 
or  apples  in  a  barrel,  packed  together  so  that  they  could  not 
move.  On  the  contraiy,  atoms  have  great  mobility;  they  oc- 
cupy only  a  small  part  of  space;  their  gregariousness  brings 
them  together  in  groups.     This  leaves  vast  portions  of  empty 


16_ THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

space  subject  to  constant  invasion;  but,  until  so  invaded,  en- 
during as  vacuum.  As  the  atoms  are  round  and  hard  there  is 
an  area  of  vacuum  smaller  or  larger  around,  or  in  contact,  so  to 
speak,  with  each  atom.  While  the  atoms  in  existence,  as  to 
number,  could  not  be  called  ^^ infinite,"  because  they  do  not  fill 
the  entire  infinitude  of  space,  yet  as  they  are  beyond  all  human 
comprehension,  and  in  contemplation  of  mind  are  infinite  in 
number,  we  will  say  that  they  are,  for  all  purposes  of  thought 
and  discussion,  infinite  in  number  and  diff-usion.  Compress- 
ibility indicates  vacuum ;  the  air  is  full  of  it.  The  corpuscles 
of  the  air  are  large,  coarse,  flexible  filigree  structures,  through 
each  of  w^hich  an  atom  can  go  like  a  bee  through  an  arbor  of 
honeysuckles.  Throughout  all  the  realms  of  space  a  vast  vacuum 
exists  which,  at  all  times,  like  a  great  ocean,  is  in  contact  with  all 
atoms.  Every  substance  is  saturated  with  vacuum;  it  per- 
vades everything,  except  the  interior  of  the  atom. 

Therefore  we  say :  Vacuum  is  contiguous  to  every  atom. 

Sec.  13. — Attraction.  The  gregarious  feeling  which  atoms 
have,  comes  from  their  many  and  varied  experiences.  En- 
dowed at  first  with  only  consciousness,  the  atom,  by  its  multi- 
farious experiences,  develops  likes  and  dishkes.  With  its  hap- 
penings come  experience,  with  the  experience  comes  knowledge, 
with  the  knowledge  comes  intelligence.  As  the  atom  grows  in- 
telligent it  acquires  in  an  ascending  scale  an  expanding  potency, 
and  an  intensive  impulse.  Ultimately  this  humble  atom  may 
become  the  Ego-atom  of  a  man;   afterwards  higher  still. 

Returning  to  our  subject :  we  find  the  atom,  as  stated,  de- 
veloping likes  and  dislikes;  the  mechanical  names  for  which 
are  '^ attraction"  and  '^ repulsion."  As  size  is  no  criterion  of 
intelligence  (Sec.  8),  these  minute  atoms  have  acquired  eager 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. V7 

friendships  and  bitter  hatreds.  This  is  indicated  in  some  of  the 
so-called  ^^ chemical  affinities."  There  is  such  a  thing  between 
separated  atoms  as, a  pull  or  a  push ;  that  is,  there  is  a  desire  on 
the  part  of  one  atom  to  go  to  meet  another,  or  to  shun  and 
avoid  another.  If  both  atoms  desire  it  they  will  meet ;  if  they 
do  not  wish  to  meet  they  will  not  meet.  When  they  meet  they 
may  wish  to  remain  together.  Atoms  may  be  unsocial  to  each 
other,  and  refuse,  like  oil  and  water,  to  unite ;  the  friendship  of 
some  atoms  to  each  other  is  only  rivaled  by  their  hatred  to  others. 
These  habits  have  by  long  experience  and  repetition  become 
fixed  and  constant. 

Therefore  we  say:  Attraction  and  repulsion,  among  atoms, 
are  habits  of  thought  and  action. 

Sec.  14. — The  Gift  of  Direction.  If  separated  from  each 
other,  in  the  vast  distances  of  the  universe,  two  magnets,  un- 
known to  each  other,  were  placed,  they  would  immediately,  if 
no  obstacles  were  encountered,  proceed  toward  each  other.  No 
matter  what  the  distance  might  be,  nor  how  feeble  the  attraction, 
if  there  were  no  resistance  they  would  immediately  proceed  to 
hunt  for  each  other  and  with  accelerated  velocity  unite.  If  a 
pigeon  being  carried  far  from  home  in  a  dark  box  be  released  it 
will  describe  a  circle,  until  it  gets  the  direction,  and  then  will  fly 
straightway  home.  Other  animals,  also  insects  and  fishes,  have 
the  same  gift  of  direction;  but  the  gift  is  more  directly  appli- 
cable to  the  atom  than  to  any  combination  of  atoms. 

iVttraction  is  a  habit,  and  it  exists  in  a  greater  or  less  degree 
in  the  individual  atom,  according  to  its  experience.  Atoms 
may  unite  from  any  distance,  but  the  pull  must  be  reciprocal:  A 
sailor  by  pulling  on  a  rope  may  move  his  boat  in  the  direction 
of  the  rope ;   but  if  the  rope  is  not  fastened  he  can  make  no  prog- 


18  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL.      

ress  with  the  boat.  Therefore  atoms  seek  each  other  by  mutual 
desire  and  incHnation.  This  mutual  incUnation  develops  the 
pull,  and  the  pull  gives  the  knowledge  of  the  direction.  But 
the  inclination  must  be  mutual  or  there  will  be  no  pull.  Hence 
two  atoms  that  wish  to  find  each  other  can  always  do  so,  no 
matter  where  they  may  be  situated,  or  how  far  apart.  Their 
unitation,  then,  only  depends  upon  the  obstacles  to  be  over- 
come in  the  path  between  them. 

Therefore  we  say :   Atoms  have  the  gift  of  direction. 

Sec.  15. — Resultant  Motion.  Two  or  three  or  more,  or 
many  more,  atoms  may  stand  motionless  by  each  other,  side  by 
side;  or  spinning  with  equal  velocity  may,  by  contact  at  the 
poles,  resemble  a  string  of  whirling  beads.  Or  two  of  them  may 
constitute  a  di-atom  and  whirl  around  each  other;  or  three  or 
more  may  whirl  together  on  a  plane.  Or  forty,  or  four  million, 
of  them  may  form  a  coalescence  of  motion,  weaving  in  and  out. 
There  is  no  limit  to  the  eccentric  and  concentric  motions  which 
these  atoms  may  acquire  or  assume.  Floating  in  vacuum,  with 
power  of  motion  at  will,  they  may  adopt  any  form  of  simple  or 
complex  effort,  and  may  weave  out  any  form  of  lace-like  motion. 
Atoms  of  the  same  habits  will  organize  in  the  same  way.  Re- 
sultant motions  go  from  the  simple  to  the  complex.  There  is 
no  hmit  to  the  complexity  of  organization  and  of  habit.  These 
habits  may,  as  a  growth  of  experience  and  of  intelligence,  change. 
The  original  atomic  motions  were  only  two,  the  rectilineal 
and  the  whirl.  Both  could  be  used  at  the  same  time.  From 
these,  by  combination,  a  vast  number  of  resultant  motions 
have  originated;  both  complicated  and  intricate.    These  com- 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 19 

binations  denote  an  evolution  of  intelligence  through  ex- 
perience. 

Therefore  we  say :   Resultant  motion  denotes  progress. 

Sec.  16. — Recapitulation.  The  phrase,  ^'Primordial  Atom," 
as  herein  used,  denotes  the  atom  which  existed  back  ''in  the 
beginning";  that  is,  at  the  earliest  time  which  mind  can  con- 
template. Whether  it  existed  before  that  time  is  unknowable 
and  unthinkable.  But  ''in  the  beginning '^  it  was  as  follows: 
The  Primordial  Atom  was  infinitely  small,  and  infinitely  hard. 
It  was  round,  indivisible,  eternal,  and  indestructible.  It 
had  neither  color  nor  weight.  It  manifested  neither  inertia 
nor  momentum.  All  atoms  were  uniform  in  shape,  size,  sub- 
stance, texture,  and  quality.  Each  was  in  some  degree  con- 
scious, and  capable  of  becoming  intelligent.  Each  was  sur- 
rounded by  vacuum,  greater  or  less  in  extent.  Each  had  origi- 
nally two  separate  motions,  rotary  and  rectihnear.  Each  had 
a  self-inherent  power  to  move  or  stop.  Each  had  the  gift  of  di- 
rection. Each  had  the  power  of  combination,  and  of  the  de- 
velopment of  forms  of  associated  motion.  Each  was  capable 
of  forming  likes  and  dislikes,  and  developing  the  faculty  of  at- 
traction and  of  repulsion. 

We  shall  hereafter  see  what  great  events  and  achievements 
came  from  these  humble  conditions.  They  came  through  com- 
bination. There  supervened  three  original  fundamental  com- 
binations; and  from  these  three  all  others  have  been  formed. 
These  were : 

1.  The  Ion;  then  afterwards, 

2.  The  Molecule,  or  else 

3.  The  Corpuscle. 

Sec.  17. — The  Ion.    Atoms  in  course. of  time  undergo  va- 


20  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

rious  experiences,  acquire  various  likes  and  dislikes,  and  develop 
various  forms  of  habit.  Atoms  of  similar  likes,  habits  and  mo- 
tions, come  together  and  organize  little  families  which  are  the 
units  of  organization.  These  are  called  Ions.  Although  each 
Ion  is  made  up  of  similars,  yet  one  Ion  may  be  totally  dissimilar 
from  another  Ion.  Each  Ion  is,  as  to  itself,  homogeneous. 
Though  many  of  the  Ions  are  alike,  each  to  each.  Ions  are  di- 
vided into  a  vast  number  of  genera.  Each  genus  is  composed 
of  similar  Ions  which  have  each  separately  and  individually 
organized  with  atoms  identically  similar,  and  with  similar 
atomic  motion. 

To  illustrate,  suppose,  upon  a  lawn,  we  attempt  to  arrange 
or  pile  cannon-balls:  we  can  lay  them  in  a  hne,  we  can  form 
triangles,  squares,  and  hexagons ;  we  can  form  various  kinds  of 
pyramids,  all  of  which  will  be  regular  in  form.  We  cannot  add 
motion  to  these,  and  as  to  motion  our  illustration  is  faulty. 
The  Ions  have  not  only  all  regular  arrangements  of  shape,  but 
all  regular  varieties  of  atomic  interlocking  motion,  each  Ion 
being  a  family  and  a  formation  to  itself  apart. 

The  Ion  as  such  has  an  ionic  motion.  Suppose  that  an  Ion 
had  a  motion  around  a  circle  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter, 
and  that  it  had  a  velocity  equal  to  that  of  the  earth  around  the 
sun.  The  orbital  velocity  would  be  so  great  that  the  Ion  would 
form  a  ring  and  we  could  handle  it  as  a  ring ;  and  if  such  orbits, 
as  to  several  Ions,  were  made  interlocking,  the  Ions  would  hold 
together  as  a  chain.  We  have  made  the' orbit,  for  illustration, 
one-eighth,  inch  for  the  purpose  of  making  it  tangible  to  thought; 
as  a  fact  the  orbit  would  be  many  hundred  thousand  times 
smaller. 

The  atoms  in  the  Ion  may  be  one  diameter,  or  a  hundred  or  a 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL.  21 

thousand  diameters,  from  one   another, — each  surrounded   by 
vacuum,  but  by  its  interlocking  motion  adhering  to  the  Ion. 

Sec.  18. — The  Molecule.  The  molecule  is  a  combination  of 
similar  ions.  The  ion  is,  as  stated,  a  family  composed  of  similar 
atoms;  they  are  combined  as  to  numbers  and  motion,  accord- 
ing to  the  special  habits  of  the  individual  atoms.  There  may 
be  combined  in  the  Ion  few  or  many — ten  or  a  million — just  as 
the  custom  and  habits  of  the  atom  and  the  family  warrant. 
Quite  in  the  same  way  these  families  coalesce  into  race-com- 
munities; these  are  the  molecules.  These  molecules  are,  as  to 
one  another,  divided  into  genera,  because  each  molecule  must 
be  composed  of  similar  ions ;  hence,  as  ions  vary,  so  the  mole- 
cule varies.  A  vast  number  of  molecules  may  be  just  alike; 
another  vast  number  may  be  quite  different  from  the  former 
but  among  themselves  be  just  alike.  The  molecule  is  the  con- 
stituent of  what  is  known  in  chemistry  as  the  ^'Element."  The 
''elements"  are  metals  and  metalloids,  and  may  be  represented 
by  gold,  iron,  sulphur,  iodine,  oxygen,  etc.,  etc.  These  funda- 
mental elements  are  each  undecomposable  into  anything  but 
one  pure  form  of  matter.  Their  interior  formation  in  a  faint 
way  may  be  illustrated  as  follows:  Suppose  we  pile  up  a  tri- 
angular pyramid  composed  of  ten  balls,  it  would  be  three  balls 
on  each  side  and  three  balls  high.  These  floating  in  space  and 
having  an  interlocking  motion  would  compose  an  entity,  or  a 
family,  and  we  would  call  it  an  ''ion."  If  twenty  of  these  were 
placed  point  to  point  they  would  compose  a  figure  nearly  round, 
a  dodecahedron.  These  latter  could  unite,  the  same  as  the 
balls  in  the  first  place  did,  and  by  succession  of  unitation  they 
would  arrive  at  any  desired  bulk.  Suppose  again  that  we  pile 
the  balls  into  a  four-square  pyramid:   this  takes  thirty;   here 


22 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  I TH URIEL. 

we  have  an  ion  of  a  different  shape.  If  we  take  six  of  these  and 
unite  them  at  the  apex  of  each  we  have  a  cube.  These  cubes 
can  unite  and  form  larger  cubes,  and  so  on,  ad  infinitum.  All 
of  these  substances  are  held  together  by  their  interlocking  motion. 
As  these  substances,  the  ions,  unite  and  reunite  by  accretion, 
this  interlocking  motion  is  adjusted  and  re-adjusted.  Between 
similar  molecules  there  is  a  family  affinity — a  molecular  attrac- 
tion, which  gives  rise  and  opportunity  to  the  interlocking  mo- 
tion. 

Sec.  19. — The  Corpuscle.  The  Corpuscle  is  a  coalition  of 
dissimilar  ions,  wherein  it  differs  from  the  molecule,  which  is 
a  coalition  of  similar  ions.  Great  variety  comes  from  the  union 
of  dissimilar  ions.  Corpuscles  themselves  exist  in  genera;  that 
is  to  say,  certain  forms  of  ions  unite  readily  with  other  certain 
forms  and  make  a  special  corpuscular  genus.  This  can  be  easily 
understood  if  we  imagine  the  great  number  of  forms  which  ions 
assume.  Ions  may  be  flat  and  form  flat  triangles,  squares, 
stars,  or  any  other  regular  flat  shape;  they  may  form  lines, 
crosses,  or  rings ;  they  may  form  pyramids,  cylinders,  or  cubes. 
In  short,  there  are  very  many  regular  shapes  which  the  ion 
may  assume,  so  that  the  corpuscle,  by  permutation,  may  also 
assume  a  still  greater  variety.  However,  by  no  means  can  any 
one  ion  unite  with  all  other  ions ;  on  the  contrary,  each  variety 
can  unite  with  only  a  few  of  the  other  varieties.  Sometimes 
three  or  four  may  thus  unite  together.  Only  those  can  unite 
which  can  rearrange  their  interlocking  motions  at  the  points 
of  contact.  If  by  reason  of  different  and  contra-symmetric 
arrangement  such  interlocking  motions  cannot  be  arranged, 
then  there  can  be  no  union  or  adherence.  This  union  is  easily 
arranged  between  ions  of  the  same  family,  but  is  generally  im- 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL.  23 


possible  between  dissimilar  families.  There  can  be  no  union  of 
ions,  unless,  where  their  facets  or  sides  come  together,  there  is 
organized  and  established  an  interlocking  atomic  motion;  and 
when  corpuscles  coalesce  there  must  be  established  this  inter- 
locking orbital  movement.  The  corpuscle,  although  formed 
from  different  families,  follows  the  habits  and  customs  of  its 
genus,  acquired  through  great  periods  of  time. 

Sec.  20. — Atomic  Chiefs.  There  can  be  no  union  without 
thought.  Things  insensate  cannot  combine.  Atoms  do  not 
combine  by  accident.  Thought  is  incorporatedin  to  every  ef- 
fort. In  every  ion  there  is  one  atom  more  intelligent  than  the 
rest,  who  by  reason  of  such  intelhgence  assumes  control.  When 
ions  combine  into  molecules  or  corpuscles  the  union  takes  place 
only  through  the  efforts  of  the  atomic  chiefs.  These  chiefs 
fight  among  themselves  like  fowls  in  a  barn-yard,  until  the  ques- 
tion of  superiority  is  settled.  The  question  of  dominancy  being 
established,  the  combination  assumes  permanency.  In  all  such 
organisms  there  must  be  a  paramount  atom,  and,  in  the  process 
of  ascertainment  as  to  who  it  shall  be,  ions  are  ground  up,  en- 
slaved, banished,  or  persuaded.  Indeed,  in  the  formation  of 
a  corpuscle,  the  prevailing  atom  may  disband  his  entourage  and 
form  a  new  ion,  from  his  subordinate  chiefs,  or  from  his  most 
potent  tribesmen,  and  hold  this  new  ion  together,  in  the  cor- 
puscle, as  a  body-guard  and  council.  As  corpuscles  are  composed 
of  different  families,  some  of  them  may  be  said  to  be  held  in  the 
organization  through  fear,  some  are  cajoled  to  remain,  others, 
feeling  themselves  to  be  of  patrician  type,  may  desire  to  have 
around  them  those  whom  they  command  and  those  over  whom 
they  may  swagger.  All  this  may  be  easily  understood  when  we 
think  that  each  of  these  atoms  has  had  ages  and  ages  of  expe- 


24  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

rience,  has  through  endurance  and  distress  acquired  more  or 
less  intelligence,  and  is  feeling  more  or  less  the  impulse  of  an 
insatiate  ambition.  .  With  the  leadership  of  the  ion  begins  the 
lust  for  rule,  which,  as  we  shall  see,  is  never  lost. 

Sec.  21. — Minerals.  Minerals  are  living  things.  They  are 
composed  of  the  metals  or  of  the  metalloids  in  various  propor- 
tions and  combinations.  Each  crystal  is  built  up  through  ages 
of  atomic  and  ionic  experiment  and  habit.  Each  mineral  has 
its  separate  angle  of  crystallization;  it  always  crystallizes  upon 
the  angle  of  its  clan.  Minerals  sometimes  hybridize,  then  they 
crystallize  upon  the  clan-forms  combined.  Why  do  minerals 
from  all  parts  of  the  world  follow  a  prevaiHng  family  type? 
Simply  this :  the  ion  is  a  type ;  the  molecule  or  the  corpuscle 
assumes  a  clan-shape  from  the  shape  of  the  ions.  It  dates  back 
before  the  earth  was  begun.  The  molecules  or  the  corpuscles 
combine  and  the  clan-shape  is  continued  and  preserved.  To  the 
control  of  every  combination  comes  a  dominant  chief.  These 
combinations  are  made  and  re-made,  are  formed,  destroyed  and 
re-formed.  Experienced  rulers  are  always  at  hand  to  build  a 
growing  empire  whenever  an  opportunity  to. begin  is  presented. 
From  anarchy  comes  empire. 

Look  at  the  snowflakes — they  are  always  six-cornered;  why 
do  not  some  of  them  form  octagons;  why,  at  times,  are  not 
some  of  them  five-pointed?  Simply  this:  the  clan-shape  is 
hexagonal,  they  have  been  organized  in  this  way  for  ages,  their 
leaders  know  no  other  form  of  tactics,  the  soldiers  know  no  other 
drill;  it  is  their  habit  and  custom,  like  that  of  the  Chinese  to 
wear  pigtails.  From  observation  we  know  that  the  corpuscles 
of  water  are  three-cornered ;  we  see  plants  growing  from  it  built 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 25 

on  the  order  of  three,  from  the  humble  water  Uly  to  the  giant 
palm;  we  see  it  in  the  snowflake  and  the  ice. 

Sec.  22. — Vegetable  Life.  Upon  the  granite  rock  adhere 
.the  moss,  the  lichen,  and  the  cactus;  they  are  the  humblest 
missionaries  of  their  race.  They  coax,  persuade  and  tear  the 
atoms  from  their  long  and  cheerless  vocation,  or  servitude,  and 
lead  them  up  toward  a  higher  form  of  existence.  All  vegetable 
life  has  thought,  intelligence,  and  ambition.  All  vegetable  life 
is  corpuscular.  Here  ions  and  corpuscles  are  formed  and  re- 
formed. Here  their  chiefs  learn  better  how  to  organize.  Here 
the  atoms  are  fired  with  a  new  ambition.  Each  plant  has  its 
sole  and  separate  chief.  The  adamantine  granite  crumbles  be- 
neath the  arguments  and  the  efforts  of  these  humble  evangelists. 
Allien  the  moss,  the  lichen  and  the  cactus  have  lived  their  lives, 
the  atoms  and  the  ions  fall  to  the  soil  ready  to  be  enlisted  or 
conscripted  by  the  aspen  and  the  pine.  These  atoms  and  these 
ions  are  ignorant  but  ambitious;  they  are  recruits;  they  are 
at  first  only  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water.  They  can- 
not without  great  experience  and  observation  ever  expect  to  be 
able  to  organize  and  build  so  complicated  a  structure  as  a  pine 
tree  or  a  lily.  And  yet  each  particular  plant,  simple  or  complex, 
from  the  mildew  to  the  redwood,  is  organized  and  carried  through, 
from  birth  to  death,  by  a  single,  intelligent,  industrious,  pains- 
taking, experienced  atom.  He  has  his  couriers  and  his  aides- 
de-camp,  going  hither  and  thither.  He  has  his  engineers  and 
brigades  tunneling  the  ground  and  bringing  in  recruits.  He  has 
his  organizers  directing  the  movements  of  the  veterans  and  of 
the  reinforcements,  projecting  buds,  making  leaves,  construct- 
ing flowers,  and  producing  fruits.  These  things  are  not  done  by 
accident.     They  are  not  miracles.     They  are  done  by  those  who 


26^ THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIELr 

know  how;  who  have  done  it  before  and  who  are  to  do  it  again. 
What  is  it?  Our  ancestors  called  it  'instinct'';  they  were 
right;  '' instinct"  is  intelligence,  which  our  ancestors  did  not 
fully  understand,  but  which  they  knew  existed.  The  long  and 
exact  continuity  of  the  phenomenon  shows  that  it  is  neither 
accidental  nor  miraculous. 

Sec.  23. — Illustration,  a  Walnut  Tree.  Upon  the  granite 
gravel,  torn  from  the  ledge  above  it,  fell  a  lifeless  cactus.  The 
cactus-chief  and  some  of  his  ambitious  atoms  were  then  re- 
cruited by  the  threadhke  roots  of  a  gigantic  pine.  Hurried, 
with  throngs  of  others,  along  the  roadways,  as  in  a  mine,  they 
reached  the  bottom  of  the  shaft.  Here  were  headquarters ;  here 
they  were  inspected,  allotted  and  assigned.  In  course  of  years 
the  cactus-chief  showed  great  proficiency.  Once  a  bolt  of 
lightning  separated  him  from  the  tree  and  hurled  him  to  the 
ground,  but  he  knew  how  to  get  back  speedily  through  the  roots. 
He  in  time  understood  fully  the  structure,  mechanism,  habits 
and  customs  of  the  pine.  He  was  finally  detailed  as  a  staff 
officer,  and  impressed  his  chief  so  much  that  the  latter  detailed 
him  to  command  a  colony.  He  had  learned  his  trade  and  was 
ready  to  graduate.  Gathering  around  himself  a  brigade  of 
friendly,  intelligent  and  subordinate  corpuscles,  he  organized 
a  pine-nut,  bade  adieu  to  his  pine  home,  and  started  out  upon  a 
career  of  his  own.  But  a  beast  stepped  upon  the  pine-nut  and 
a  flooding  stream  carried  it  afar,  mangled  and  incapable,  where 
it  lay  disorganizing  upon  alluvial  soil  a  thousand  miles  from 
home,  mid  strange  and  ahen  races.  The  pine-chief  had  many 
invitations  to  enlist,  but  rejected  all.  He  was  in  grievous  mind 
until  a  call  from  a  black-walnut  commissioner  invited  the  chief 
and  what  was  left  of  his  colony  into  a  black- walnut  organization. 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL.  27 


They  went  with  apprehension  and  misgivings.  But  the  cactus- 
chief,  who  had  become  a  pine-chief,  had  had  much  experience; 
he  had  become  a  ruler — not  a  born  ruler  of  atoms,  but  a  ruler — 
and  he  diligently  set  about  to  learn  the  walnut  business  and  to 
make  himself  and  his  influence  felt.  Right  well  did  he  succeed ; 
he  became  an  accomplished  walnut-builder.  When  as  a  colonist 
he  had  built  a  walnut  tree,  he  started  out  and  built  another,  and 
he  gloried  in  the  long  line  of  his  accomplishments.  When  a 
venture  failed,  as  to  a  colony,  he  knew  how  to  get  back;  and 
for  over  three  thousand  years  he  did  nothing  but  build  walnut 
trees,  and  he  taught  milHons  of  others.  How  he  came  to  quit 
will  be  told  further  on. 

Sec.  24. — Animal  Life. — The  Lime  Atom.  Upon  a  hillside 
a  tuft  of  bluegrass  recruited  an  atom  of  lime.  Long  had  it  been 
a  limestone  atom  weary  for  promotion.  It  had  come  from  the 
sun  in  a  ray  of  light,  for  light  is  a  substance  containing  all  the 
elements :  falling  upon  the  wave  it  caused  a  sparkle  as  it  sank. 
A  polyp  took  it  up  and  built  it  kindly  into  a  coral  reef,  which  in 
brief,  inactive  centuries  rose  slowly  and  became  the  framework 
of  a  continent.  The  bluegrass  tuft  was  sending  up  a  spire,  and 
needed  the  atom  to  strengthen  the  cyhnder.  The  little  plant 
was  an  accomplished  architect,  and  had  the  traditional  experi- 
ence of  a  hundred  millenniums.  And  so  the  little  lime  atom 
became,  for  an  era,  a  grass  atom.  Being  earnest  and  ambitious, 
it  had  experience  thereafter  in  various  grasses  whose  govern- 
ments were  quite  alike, — rye,  millet,  wheat,  maize.  Blown 
away  one  day  by  a  tornado,  it  was  left  where  the  recruiting 
officer  of  an  apple  tree  induced  it  to  join.  In  after  times  it  had 
learned  to  build  apple  trees.  It  always  clung  to  its  little  ionic 
family  and  preserved  the  lime  family  traditions.    The  atom 


28  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  I TH URIEL. 

was  now  a  leader.  Once  his  tree  was  burned  and  he  was  among 
the  ashes,  a  simple  little  lime-ion,  but  he  was  soon  again  in  busi- 
ness building  apple  trees,  and  again,  with  the  experience  of  a 
leader,  gathering  and  organizing  the  millions  around  him.  One 
day,  as  an  apple  seed,  he  started  out  with  a  colony,  but  a  hungry 
bird  came  and  devoured  him.  Here  was  a  new  world,  a  new 
experience,  and  he  entered  into  it  with  zest  and  pleasure.  Most 
of  his  corpuscular  comrades  were  finally  rejected,  but  he  was  re- 
tained. ^^A  lime  atom  with  experience,"  said  the  recruiting 
officer,  ^^just  what  we  want;  get  your  ion  into  line  here;  take 
charge  of  this  squad  of  lime  recruits."  Then  a  corporal  showed 
him  the  way,  and  marched  him  off  and  embarked  him  in  an 
artery  with  directions.  Said  the  corporal  on  parting,  ^^We  are 
building  our  bones  more  hollow  than  formerly,  so  as  to  make 
more  storage  room  for  photographs.  It  is  the  only  place  we  can 
put  them  to  advantage.  Memory  is  constantly  taking  them 
and  sending  them  to  us  for  storage,  and  we  have  to  file  them  away 
where  they  can  be  had  on  call.  Want  of  order  makes  much 
trouble  in  that  department." 

Sec.  25. — Leadership.  Each  grade  of  existence,  generally 
speaking,  feeds  upon  the  most  developed  of  the  grade  below, 
but  the  walnut  cannot  grow  among  the  granite  gravel  with  the 
pine;  wheat  cannot  grow  with  the  cactus.  Trees  are  univer- 
sities where  atoms  are  further  educated.  Each  such  university 
must  enlist  such  atoms  as  have  had  the  rudimentary  education 
which  fits  them  for  the  curriculum  of  the  tree.  There  is  con- 
stant education  rising  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  life.  Prog- 
ress comes  up  gradually  from  the  crystal.  Every  atom,  with 
more  or  less  intensity,  is,  so  to  speak,  hunting  a  job.  Experi- 
ence in  one  sphere  of  work  fits  the  atom  and  the  ion  for  employ- 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 29 

ment  and  success  in  another.  Thrown  back  from  time  to  time, 
the  atom  still,  in  the  long  run,  makes  constant  progress.  Apti- 
tude in  one  direction  develops  aptitude  in  another.  Progress 
may  at  times  be  checked,  ambitions  retarded,  and  hopes  deferred ; 
but  the  impetus  will  be  regained  and  progress  will  push  ahead 
with  redoubled  speed  and  zeal.  The  atom  learns  the  ^^ know- 
how";  although  thrown  back,  it  can  plan  and  accomplish  its 
own  reinstatements;  retarded  in  one  place,  it  can  rise  to  equal 
heights  in  another.  This  is  because  experience  brings  power, 
power  and  experience  develop  leadership,  and  everywhere,  from 
the  crystal  to  the  archangel,  leadership  is  recognized.  It  is  not 
alone  among  men  that  leadership  is  potent  and  will  win;  the 
atom,  the  ion,  the  molecule  and  the  corpuscle  all  equally  seek, 
demand  and  employ  it.  When  once  acquired,  the  faculty  of 
leadership  remains;  and  although  clouded,  perhaps,  by  tempo- 
rary disaster,  or  inoperative  by  reason  of  adverse  conditions,  it, 
from  its  latent  lodging,  comes  forward  unevoked  like  the  crocus 
in  the  spring. 

Sec.  26. — The  Upward  Current.  In  the  ascending  scale 
the  motto  is  always  the  selection  of  the  best.  The  plant  selects 
the  best,  the  animal  selects  the  best,  man  selects  the  best;  so, 
there  is  a  constantly  ascending  scale.  Upon  a  prairie  there  is 
growing  a  luxuriant  crop  of  grass;  the  pioneer  with  his  break- 
ing-plow turns  it  under  and  sows  wheat.  The  yield  is  prolific; 
and  why?  Because  the  wheat  plant  finds  ready  for  enlistment 
myriads  of  educated  grass  atoms  that  can  do  good  work  in  wheat ; 
because  grass  and  wheat  are  built  alike.  Plant  a  tree  there,  and 
it  languishes.  Trees  need  tree  atoms;  but  in  time  an  orchard 
will  educate  its  own  atoms.  When  the  wheat  crops  have,  in 
the  course  of  years,  exhausted  the  educated  atoms  which  were 


30  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  I TH URIEL. 

originally  found,  the  crops  will  then  languish  like  the  tree,  and 
the  ground  must  be  fertilized,  that  is,  supplied  with  educated 
atoms.  Scientific  agriculture  is  based  upon  the  theory  of  the 
education  and  use  of  atoms.  The  earliest  vegetables  are  those 
which  show  the  most  progressive  energy;  the  largest  are  those 
which  show  most  comprehensive  leadership ;  and  man,  for  food, 
instinctively  prefers  them  both.  So  there  is  ever  an  upward 
current,  rising  higher  and  higher,  with  a  more  ample  scope  and 
a  more  brilliant  future.  In  one  sense  it  is  all  evolution,  in  an- 
other it  is  aspiration  and  development;  whether  we  call  it 
evolution,  aspiration,  or  development,  it  is  all  intellectual,  and 
it  comes  from  the  storing-up  and  use  of  experience.  All  this 
upward  progress  is  from  the  experience  of  the  individual;  all 
evolution  is  from  internal  origin;  it  is  from  the  below  and  the 
within.  No  plant  can  make  a  crystal,  no  beast  can  make  a 
plant,  no  man  can  make  a  crystal,  a  plant  or  a  beast;  no  God 
can  make  a  man.  So,  from  within  and  below,  the  current  is 
ever  upward.     Inspiration  and  aspiration. 

Sec.  27. — Disintegration.  Each  family  of  plants  has  its  era 
of  growth,  magnificence,  and  ruin.  Conditions  change  and 
plants  exterminate  each  other.  Like  men,  they  have  their  likes 
and  dislikes,  and  one  family  drives  another  from  the  earth.  The 
cedar  of  Lebanon  is  now  besieged  in  its  Syrian  stronghold  to 
which  it  has  retreated :  it  will  soon  capitulate ;  it  is  surrounded 
and  cannot  escape.  In  the  groves  the  maple  pushes  the  elm 
to  one  side,  and  the  box-elder  pushes  the  sycamore.  If  trees 
were  not  securely  fastened  down  they  would  fight  each  other 
more  fiercely  than  men.  As  it  is  the  tree-clans  drive  each  other 
singly  and  by  forests.  The  fishes,  the  birds  and  the  animals 
drive  each  other.     All  nature  is  in  a  war  of  competition,  and  in 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 31 

this  great  rivalry,  when  the  armies  of  one  are  destroyed,  its 
race-atoms,  Hke  janizaries,  enter  into  the  service  of  another  and 
keep  the  discord  fervent.  The  destruction  of  a  race  of  plants 
or  animals  brings  about  a  disintegration  of  the  entire  organism 
down  to  the  very  ion.  When  a  tree  is  burned  in  the  furnace, 
its  leaders  are  gone;  there  are  left  but  a  few  inert  minerals 
called  ashes,  and  these  are  ready  then  to  respond  quickly  and 
enlist  in  any  new  form  of  life.  The  leaders,  invisible  to  us, 
singly  and  with  ions,  seek  new  employment ;  and  with  a  friendly 
group,  if  perchance  they  may  find  it.  But  back  again  to  work 
they  go,  like  a  wandering  ^neas,  to  build  up  elsewhere  the  for- 
tunes they  have  lost.  Hence  it  is  that  molecules  and  corpuscles, 
families  and  clans,  are  crumbling  and  re-forming,  combining  and 
re-combining,  ever  and  ever  and  ever.  And  out  of  it  all  comes 
an  experience,  a  progress,  and  an  uplift. 

Sec.  28. — Invention.  A  willow-atom  after  long  experience 
was  enlisted  by  an  oak.  In  course  of  time,  having  the  faculty 
of  leadership,  the  atom  became  a  member  of  the  staff  and  chief 
of  the  executive  committee.  There  were  many  other  willow- 
atoms  in  the  organization.  ^^I  have  an  idea,'^  said  the  willow- 
atom;  ^^let  me  select  a  colony  and  go  forth."  The  oak-atom 
said,  ''You  may  go."  It  went  forth  and  made  a  'Svillow-leafed 
oak."  Experience  is  grafted  on  experience,  and  strange  forms 
result.  Intelligence  is  modified  by  intelligence,  struggles  are 
parried  by  events,  efforts  go  oblique.  Where  these  happen, 
differentiation  begins.  In  one  sense  all  plant  life  is  hybrid. 
When  an  atom  has  had  experience  in  two  different  forms  of  plant 
life,  suggestions  come  to  it  as  to  a  third.  When  an  atom  has 
had  long  experience  in  one  form,  suggestions  for  improvement 
receive  attention.     Hence  there  is  constant  change  and  improve- 


32 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

ment,  and  alongside  of  it  constant  change  and  failure.  There 
is  no  evolution  except  the  evolution  of  intelligence,  and  it  is  only 
a  differentiation  by  invention.  It  comes  from  within  the  thing 
invented.  It  is  not  a  creation;  it  is  a  new  combination.  The 
Centaur  was  a  weak  invention,  and  our  Greek  ancestors  assisted 
in  its  extermination  and  claimed  all  of  the  glory.  The  dragon 
was  a  dangerous  invention,  and  our  ancestor  St.  George  fought 
it  nobly.  The  Chinese,  after  its  extermination,  used  it  as  an 
emblem  on  account  of  its  native  ferocity.  Through  myth  and 
tradition  many  forms  are  brought  down  to  us  that  once  existed, 
but  which  are  now  as  extinct  as  the  pterodactyl.  Although  new 
and  strange  forms  are  constantly  being  invented,  few  of  them 
survive.  The  six-legged  calf  and  the  two-headed  sheep  are  in- 
stances. 

Man  has  come  up  through  a  steady  line  of  invention  from  the 
atom ;  through  a  steady  line  of  accretionary  development.  Side- 
shoots  have  sprung  out  all  along  the  line,  but  they  have  been 
mostly  failures.  The  monkey  is  one  of  them,  the  pigmy  is  an- 
other,— both  failures . 

Sec.  29.— Animals — Bad  and  Good.  Wild  animals  have 
such  dispositions  as  their  constituent  atoms  prescribe  and  per- 
mit. These  dispositions  change,  and  new  traits  appear,  under 
domestication.  The  turkey  becomes  much  less  vain  than  in  his 
wild  state,  the  dog  becomes  more  faithful,  and  the  cat  more 
affectionate.  But  there  are  some  animals,  and  living  things, 
that  are  not  worth  taming,  and  would  be  of  no  value  if  tamed. 
The  hornet,  the  snake,  the  hawk,  the  wolf,  the  shark, — each  of 
these  is  a  combination  of  bad  atoms,  and  should  be  destroyed. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  human  race  to  exterminate  these  bad  com- 
binations.    They  are  aggregations  of  cruelty,  selfishness,  and 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL.  33 

ferocity.  These  atoms  can,  so  to  speak,  be  mustered  out.  They 
can  be  thrown  back,  disorganized  and  compelled  to  start  anew. 
Life  is  a  competition  in  destruction.  A  good  man  is  the  best 
animal  yet  created  on  earth,  and  his  period  of  duration  thereon 
is  governed  by  his  ability  to  slay,  in  self-defense,  his  unworthy 
competitors.  They  all  need  another  and  a  better  start.  From 
bad  atoms  come  the  germs  of  fierce  diseases  attacking  man; 
from  bad  atoms  develop  cruel  forms  of  intermediate  life,  such 
as  the  cobra,  the  tiger,  and  the  kite.  Let  them  all  be  sent  back  ; 
let  them  all  be  reeducated.  With  better  associations,  and  with 
more  experience,  they  will  come  up  again,  improved. 

Those  vices  which  flourish  by  sufferance  are  the  nurseries 
of  barbarism.  Civilization  and  progress  mean  war;  and  the 
war  must  be  continuous.  Not  more  continuous,  however,  than 
the  victory.  Extermination  of  vicious  combinations  must  pro- 
ceed up  the  line  from  the  bacillus  to  the  bandit.  Progress  will 
have  a  potent  force  to  help  it  forward,  in  this,  that  barbarism 
hates  barbarism,  the  wolf  eats  the  wounded  wolf,  the  killer  kills 
the  killer,  and  the  robber  loves  to  rob  the  robber. 

Sec.  30. — The  Man.  The  microscopic  origin  of  the  man  is 
the  spermatozo-oid ;  we  can  trace  it  as,  increasing  from  six  to 
twelve  billion  times  in  growth,  it  ultimately  becomes  a  man; 
yet  the  primordial  atom  by  accretion,  association  and  organi- 
zation had  increased  from  six  to  twelve  billion  times  to  become 
such  a  spermatozo-oid.  The  atom  is  infinitely  small;  man  is 
only  half-way  up  the  ladder.  As  the  crystal  is  but  a  selected 
community  of  educated  and  fraternal  atoms,  so  a  plant  is  a  se- 
lection from  experienced  crystals.  The  plant  is  an  alembic, 
and  its  fruit  and  seeds  are  merely  distillates.  The  lower  beasts 
take  up  and  re-distill  the  plant  product.    Eav^h  plant  and  ani- 


34 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

mal  is  a  bundle  of  its  inferiors;  in  other  words,  the  best  army 
which  its  chief  can  recruit.  A  sheep  is  a  by-product  of  the  dis- 
tillation of  nearly  every  element  in  the  universe.  Man  eats  the 
sheep  and  it  is  re-distilled.  Man  is  a  still  higher  product  and  is 
himself  re-distilled.  Above  him  go  a  thousand  grades  of  suc- 
cessive distillation.  In  the  vast  retort,  of  what  is  called  nature, 
the  process  of  continual  selection,  by  which  intelligence  and 
leadership  may,  after  segregation,  combine  and  rise,  has  been 
of  very  long  duration.  There  is  much  for  us  to  aspire  to.  Far 
down  in  the  scale  of  real  efficiency  and  excellency  is  vain,  self- 
conceited  man;  to  those  above  him  he  belongs  to  the  Crustacea. 
He  lives  on  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  of  the  atmosphere.  Yet  he 
deserves  no  sneer,  and  he  will  receive  from  us  herein  much  de- 
served attention. 

Each  man  is  a  separate  proposition;  each  is  differently 
organized;  each  has  tendencies  one  way  or  another;  and  each 
has  a  different  aptitude.  And  it  is  so  because  each  has  selected 
atoms  of  different  history,  education,  and  experience.  One  has 
many  atoms  of  the  vulture,  the  serpent,  and  the  wolf ;  the  other 
of  the  ox,  the  lion,  and  the  albatross.  Everything  is  woven  in 
a  similar  loom,  but  all  the  patterns  are  different.  No  two  men 
can  be  ahke  any  more  than  two  regiments  in  the  United  States 
army  might  be  recruited  from  men  of  similar  names. 

Sec.  31. — The  Ego- Atom.  Each  man  is  an  empire,  at  the 
head  of  which  is  a  constitutional  monarch.  This  empire  has 
bilhons  of  subjects,  all  under  considerable  control.  The  em- 
peror, the  Ego-atom,  has  had  abundant  test;  he  has  been  in 
places  of  subordination  and  of  command;  he  has  held  almost 
every  office,  and  knows  how  to  rule.  He  has  organized  crystals, 
he  has  builded  grass  and  shrubs  and  trees;   he  has  occupied  all 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 35 

official  situations  from  corporal  to  general.  While  dominant 
in  bluegrass  he  has  been  eaten,  as  master  of  an  oak  he  has  been 
felled.  He  has  lived  with  beasts  and  birds  and  fishes.  He  has 
been  thrown  down  hard  a  thousand  times;  his  experience  in 
leadership  covers  a  million  years.  From  one  of  his  former 
reigns  his  face  may  show  that  his  latest  dominant  existence  was 
that  of  a  lion  or  a  sheep;  yet,  nevertheless,  he  has  had  a  long 
subordinate  apprenticeship  in  man.  His  human  empire  in  in- 
fancy was  small,  but  enlargement  soon  began,  and  he  followed 
his  latest  teachings  and  traditions,  modified,  to  some  extent,  by 
the  experience  gained  during  his  most  protracted  ascendency 
in  some  lower  form.  Thus  we  see  in  human  face  and  fashion 
many  of  the  animals  and  birds  with  which  we  are  familiar. 

We  have  observed  trout  trying  to  surmount  a  waterfall; 
how  the  strong  succeed  and  how  the  weaker  try  and  try,  and 
fail  and  fail ;  but  after  time  through  growth  and  effort  they  too 
succeed.  It  is  so  with  man  in  reaching  higher  levels.  At  all 
times  the  atom  is  in  command  until  the  empire  is  destroyed,  or 
the  emperor  driven  from  his  throne.  This  Ego-atom  is  our- 
selves. Each  of  us  is  it.  Each  of  us  is  but  an  atom,  a  single 
atom.  And  this  same  atom  was  originally  hard  and  round  and 
indestructible,  and  had  consciousness  and  motion  and  the  gift 
of  direction.  It  has  now  acquired  much  intelligence,  the  power 
and  habit  of  leadership,  an  increased  ambition,  and  is  going 
forward  at  a  swift  rate  to  a  glorious  and  logical  future. 

Sec.  32. — The  Man-Empire.  All  political  empires  have 
their  periods  of  growth,  prosperity,  and  decay.  It  is  so  with  the 
atom-empire  which  we  call  "man."  All  empires  decline  in  the 
same  manner:  first,  the  legislative  branch  becomes  weak  or 
corrupt;  then,  the  judiciary  system  becomes  feeble  and  the  sense 


36 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 

of  right  and  wrong  becomes  relaxed;  then,  the  executive  de- 
partment breaks  down,  and  the  empire  is  lost.  The  man- 
empire  is  a  vast  empire  in  numbers ;  and,  as  in  a  political  em- 
pire, in  it  there  must  be  patriotism,  honesty,  conciliation,  and 
what  is  known  as  public  virtue.  The  two  great  forces  of  a  nation 
are  its  soldiers  and  its  students.  The  first  resists  invasion  and 
insurrection  and  is  protective, — the  latter  invents,  discovers, 
and  reveals ;  it  is  progressive.  The  enemies  of  political  society 
are  greed,  disordered  ambition,  senseless  vanity,  cruelty,  men- 
dacity, and  idleness.  These  vices  have  the  same  effect  upon  the 
empire  below  as  they  have  on  the  empire  above.  The  little 
empire  suffers  exactly  as  the  great  empire.  One  is  an  empire 
of  atoms  and  the  other  an  empire  of  empires.  A  nation  suffers 
from  the  same  vices  as  those  from  which  a  state  would  suffer, 
a  state  suffers  from  the  same  vices  as  those  from  which  a  city 
would  suffer;  the  man  suffers  the  same  as  a  city,  the  corpuscle 
the  same  as  the  man.  The  same  rule  holds  good  from  top  to 
bottom,  from  angel  to  atom. 

In  the  atom-empire  of  man,  as  in  the  higher  empire  of  men, 
the  administration,  to  be  the  best,  must  be  lofty,  and  just,  and 
pure,  and  firm;  not  rapacious,  not  vain-glorious,  not  cruel.  In 
the  little  empire  the  faults  and  vices  of  administration  can  be 
no  more  hidden  than  in  the  larger.  In  the  little  empire,  as  in 
the  greater,  follies  of  administration  work  the  same  results, — 
dissatisfaction,  emigration,  and  insurrection ;  its  soldiers  desert, 
its  students  depart,  then  comes  anarchy  followed  by  destruction, 
which  we  call  ^^  death.''  The  only  way  for  the  little  atom- 
empire  to  succeed  is  that  it  cause  confidence,  respect,  patriotism 
and  decency  to  prevail. 

Sec.  33. — Food.    A  toad  eats  a  wasp;    a  serpent  swallows 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 37 

the  toad ;  a  wild  hog  devours  the  serpent.  This  happens  time 
and  time  again  in  the  order  of  varied  circumstance.  The  wild 
hog  becomes  an  assembly  of  pernicious  atoms.  A  hunter  in 
pursuit  of  game  slays  the  wild  hog  and  bears  it  home  in  triumph 
to  be  eaten.  The  hunter  by  his  food  receives  some  strange  ac- 
cessions— the  wasp-atom,  the  toad-atom,  the  snake-atom,  the 
wild-hog-atom.  They  have  not  yet  learned  the  language,  as 
will  be  hereinafter  explained,  and  hence  the  hunter  himself 
suffers  but  little,  but  his  children  will  pay  a  thousand  penalties. 
The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them ;  the  wasp,  the  toad,  the 
snake,  the  wild  swine  may  appear  in  the  disposition  of  children 
and  of  children's  children. 

Progress  can  only  be  reached  through  purity  of  food  and 
purity  in  life.  The  purity  of  the  parent  rescues  the  child. 
Moses  understood  this,  and  distinguished  between  the  clean  and 
the  unclean.  From  the  farm,  where  the  food  is  composed  of 
domesticated  grains,  and  meat  grown  therefrom,  must  come, 
the  cultivated  vigor  that  shall  reinforce  the  civilization  which 
grows  decadent  in  the  city.  Every  human  being  is  the  product 
of  its  parents'  food.  There  is  salvation  in  purity  of  thought  and 
life.  It  has  taken  man  millions  of  years  to  get  up  where  he  is. 
Therefore  eat  the  best  meats,  the  best  fruits,  the  best  grains, 
the  best  of  everything ;  but  let  it  all  be  civilized,  domesticated, 
and  of  pure  origin.  Do  not  shun  meats;  vegetarianism  is  a 
mistake;  but  do  shun  barbarism,  shun  '^game,"  shun  wildness. 
The  sudden  millionaire,  who  has  not  become  accUmated  to 
wealth,  begins  to  be  an  epicure,  new  foods  from  all  corners  of  the 
earth  are  his ;  he  eats  strange  victuals ;  chefs  concoct  him  strange 
dishes  from  far-off  lands;  he  acquires  a  liking  for  ^'game," 
gamey  meats  and  exotic  viands.     He  does  not  suffer — not  very 


38  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 

much — but  his  children  pay  the  penalty;  he  and  the  world 
wonder  whence  their  dispositions  and  their  worthlessness.  The 
children  of  the  farm  take  their  places.  Blessed  are  the  pure  in 
stomach,  for  their  children  shall  see  the  fruition  of  hope. 

Sec.  34. — The  Soul.  The  Ego-atom  is  related  to  the  cor- 
poreal man,  just  the  same  as  the  emperor  is  to  the  empire.  The 
emperor  is  not  the  governing  power,  but  is  the  chairman  of  the 
committee  which  does  govern.  He  alone  could  not  control  the 
empire ;  he  must  have  a  staff,  a  council,  an  army.  In  man  the 
Ego-atom  is  the  chairman  of  the  soul.  He  has  around  him  a 
council  magnificent  in  numbers,  organization,  and  experience. 
He  has  brigades  of  aides-de-camp,  couriers,  orderlies,  messengers. 
He  has  judges  and  advisers.  He  has  an  army.  He  has  a  legis- 
lature which  debates,  discusses,  and  decides.  This  vast  entou- 
rage manages  for  the  most  part  the  internal  affairs  of  the  empire. 
Its  danger  point  is  that  of  external  contact.  This  is  the  principal 
sphere  of  duty  of  the  Ego-atom;  he  deals  with  the  outside 
world.  He  is  his  own  secretary  of  foreign  affairs.  When  he 
deals  with  internal  conditions  it  is  only  as  they  are  brought 
specifically  to  his  attention.  The  legislature,  although  con- 
stantly undergoing  somewhat  of  a  change,  is  nevertheless  almost 
continually  in  session.  Some  of  these  dehberations  we  call 
"unconscious  cerebration,"  when  the  Ego-atom  is  absent  or  busy. 
These  deliberations  govern  internal  affairs,  and  at  times  make 
recommendation  to  the  emperor  as  to  foreign  affairs.  The  same 
with  the  judiciary.  The  constituency  of  these  assemblies  are 
not  wholly  of  the  emperor's  choosing,  although  he  can  much 
influence  their  selection;  he  can  refuse  to  Hsten  to  them;  can 
and  does  disobey  their  mandates,  and  may  disregard  their  ad- 
vice.    He  has  independence  and  .predominating  power,  but  he 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL.         39 

is  supreme  only  in  rank;  he  cannot  control  the  thought  or  de- 
cisions of  the  subordinate  departments.  Therefore  there  is  a 
sort  of  a  triality  in  man— the  thinking,  the  doing,  and  the  judg- 
ing. But  the  Ego-atom  is  paramount  in  rule,  has  the  veto  power, 
and  can  destroy  the  organization  at  any  time,  as  is  occasionally 
done,  by  so-called  '^suicide."  He  and  his  entourage  constitute 
the  ^^  Soul." 

Sec.  35. — The  Mind.  As  has  been  stated,  the  Ego-atom 
has  around  him  administrative,  legislative  and  judicial  forces; 
they  constitute  his  cabinet  and  are  ready  at  his  call.  In  con- 
tact with  outside  matters  many  serious  questions  arise,  ques- 
tions of  right,  expedience,  and  duty.  Many  of  these  are  sub- 
mitted to  the  cabinet.  The  Ego-atom  listens  to  the  discussion; 
this  is  called  ^^ meditation.''  When  the  discussion  is  master- 
ful, about  evenly  divided  and  prolonged,  and  the  Ego-atom  is 
alternately  convinced,  this  is  ^Vacillation.''  When  a  strong 
consensus  condemns  an  act  as  unjust  or  a  certain  proposed  pro- 
cedure as  wrong,  this  is  ^'conscience."  When  the  Ego-atom 
with  vanity  and  self-assertion  overrules  his  council,  vetoes  their 
legislative  resolution,  and  in  defiant  mood  acts  in  contravention 
thereto,  then  he  is  lashed  by  his  parliament  in  hot  debate  and 
around  him  a  mob  shouts  excoriating  protests.  All  of  this,  is 
kept  up  in  proportion  to  the  gravity  of  the  offense,  and  is  called 
'' remorse."  From  this  retributory  ordeal,  if  the  protests  are 
long  continued,  there  is  but  one  escape, — either  abdication  or 
flight;  t.  e.,  insanity  or  death. 

Happy  the  man  who  convokes  his  council  often  and  listens 
to  its  debates;   0  Man^  convene  thy  Soul  and  give  heed.     • 

Sometimes  the  council  is  so  neglected  that  it  resigns  in  dis- 
gust, sometimes  affronted  it  quits,  sometimes  it  is  dispersed  and 


40 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITtlJJRI^L. 

the  Ego-atom  acts  selfishly  and  alone.  The  man  is  then  said 
to  have  no  soul.  He  becomes  vicious,  a  foe  to  decency  and  a 
curse  to  his  race.  Sometimes  he  determines  to  reorganize  his 
council  and  change  his  manner  of  administration;  this  is  called 
''conversion."  This  council  and  these  powers,  paramount  and 
subordinate ;  these  bodies,  functions  and  tribunals,  these  efforts 
and  these  actions — all  combined,  are  called,  in  one  comprehen- 
sive term,  ''The  Mind."  In  our  language  we  have  no  word  to 
designate  the  distinction  between  the  process  and  the  product, 
and  so  we  call  both  "Mind." 

Sec.  36. — The  Nerves.  Man  is  built  something  like  a  whisk- 
broom:  the  straws  all  run  up  into  the  top.  From  the-  brain 
down  and  through  every  part  of  the  body  run  highways,  through 
and  over  which,  as  over  Roman  roads,  couriers  and  armies  may 
be  sent.  From  the  metropolis  in  the  brain,  messengers  can  be 
sent  to  any  portion  of  the  body,  inside  or  out.  The  outside  is 
a  net-work  of  minute  and  innumerable  pores;  yet,  at  every 
opening  there  are  sentinels  to  forbid  the  entrance  of  objection- 
able visitors,  and  carry  an  immediate  notice  to  headquarters. 
These  messengers  are  extremely  rapid  and  numerous,  and  know 
where  to  go  to  dehver  their  messages.  Some  deliver  them  to  one 
staff  officer  and  some  to  another.  The  staff  officers  condense 
the  news  and,  if  important,  advise  the  Ego-atom.  These  nerves 
are  cylindrical,  in  pairs  alongside  of  each  other,  so  as  to  allow 
travel  in  opposite  directions.  In  other  words,  the  whole  sys- 
tem is  double-tracked.  These  cylinders  are  so  small  that  they 
are  filled  with  vacuum.  That  is,  they  are  so  small  that  the  cor- 
puscles of  the  air  or  water  cannot  get  into  them,  any  more  than 
a  cannon-ball  could  go  into  a  flute.  These  highways,  being 
kept  free  from  intrusion  and  impediments,  afford  a  line  of  travel 


TliE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL.  41 

in  vacuo  that  is  speedful.  These  nerve-Hnes  have  fine  terminal 
facilities,  side-tracks,  switches  and  spurs,  at  all  necessary  places. 
They  also  have  complicated  connections  at  junction  points, 
called  ganglions,  where  messengers  can  go  around  a  piece  of 
road  that  is  out  of  order.  Various  portions  of  the  lines  are  con- 
stantly suffering  damage,  and  gangs  of  ^Hrouble-men"  are  con- 
stantly repairing  at  points  where  trouble  exists.  Restorations 
are  constantly  being  made  by  building  through  or  around  an 
obstacle.  Division  superintendents  are  at  the  gangHons,  and 
the  general  managers  and  the  chiefs  of  the  operating  depart- 
ments are  at  headquarters  in  the  brain. 

Sec.  37. — Language.  The  inhabitants  of  China  speak  one 
language,  those  of  Africa  another,  those  of  America  still  another  ; 
but  the  Coolie  and  the  Negro  can  be  brought  forcibly  or  other- 
wise to  America  and  be  immediately  put  at  profitable  employ- 
ment. They  may  not  be  able  to  speak  the  language  of  America, 
but  soon  they  pick  up  enough  words,  sign  language  and  informa- 
tion to  enable  them  to  do  their  work  well  and  understand  their 
duties.  So  with  man  and  his  constituent  atoms.  As  each  man 
is  an  empire,  so  also  in  each  empire  there  is  a  different  dialect. 
Each  immigrant  is  shorn  of  much  power  by  being  unable  to  speak 
the  language  on  his  arrival.  Food  is  made  up  of  immigrants. 
Some  pick  up  the  language  quicker  than  others.  Interpreters 
are  plenty^every  immigrant  in  this  great  cosmopolitan  empire 
finds  some  one  with  whom  he  can  communicate.  In  youth,  the 
great  formative  period  of  the  man-empire,  the  problem  is  to  fix 
and  settle  the  language,  laws  and  social  system  of  the  empire. 
This  is  accomplished  at  or  about  ^^ maturity,''  and  before  that 
time  great  numbers  fail,  because  they  are  unable  to  perfect  a 
working  organization. 


42 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

As  various  atoms  have,  respectively,  various  ranges  of  ex- 
perience, so,  therefore,  do  these  atoms  range  from  the  dull  and 
stupid  to  the  wise  and  clever.  But  there  can  be  no  combinations 
between  them  unless  they  have  some  method  of  communication. 
If  all  the  general  methods  of  signs,  words  and  acts  may  in  the 
aggregate  be  defined  as  ^Halk,''  then  we  may  say  that  all  associ- 
ating of  atoms  is  brought  about  by  'Halk."  Unless  atoms  talk 
there  could  be  no  crystals,  no  plants,  no  animals.  Without  talk 
there  could  be  no  functional  activity  in  any  form  of  life.  A  tree 
could  not  grow,  a  snowflake  could  not  form,  unless  some  one 
atom  could  tell  some  other  atom  where  to  go  and  what  to  do. 
Unless  the  atoms  which  form  a  tree  could  act  together  with  a 
common  intent  to  carry  out  a  common  purpose,  those  atoms 
would  be  as  incapable  as  a  pile  of  sand.  The  more  perfect  the 
internal  language  the  more  preeminent  the  organization.  Ora- 
tory has  its  true  effect  whether  within  or  without  the  crystal, 
within  or  without  the  man. 

Sec.  38. — Sensation.  We  see  those  things  only  which  we 
know  we  see ;  we  hear  those  things  only  which  we  know  we  hear. 
Sensation  applies  to  the  things  of  which,  and  only  to  the  things 
of  which,  we  take  cognizance.  In  the  atom-empire  of  the  man,  as 
in  the  greater  empire  of  men,  information  from  the  outside  is 
carried  to  governmental  headquarters  by  messengers  and  is 
there  classified  and  considered.  A  brass-band  is  playing  in  the 
park,  and  we  far  off  are  listening.  The  process  of  comprehen- 
sion is  complicated;  the  vibrations  of  the  air  reach  our  ears; 
the  fact  of  these  commotions,  by  instantaneous  and  consecutive 
messengers,  are  carried  to  the  headquarters  of  the  brain,  and 
there  receive  attention  from  the  aides-de-camp  and  general  staff. 
The  result  is  reported  to  the  Ego-atom.     The  sensations  of  touch 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHVRIEL.  43 

and  smell,  of  hearing  and  seeing,  are  all  communicated  and  regis- 
tered alike.  As,  in  a  temporal  empire  of  the  world,  communi- 
cations from  the  outside  come  in  the  form  of  reports  and  advices, 
so  in  the  atom-empire  do  they  come.  But  the  organization  of 
the  atom-empire  is  much  the  more  perfect.  There  is  a  vast 
difference  between  men — that  is,  between  the  atom-empires 
we  call  man — between  one  and  another,  as  to  the  ease  and  accu- 
racy with  which  each  receives  and  comprehends  sensations. 

No  two  men  are  similarly  organized.  No  two  can  act,  or 
be,  the  same.  As  no  two  states  have  the  same  laws;  as  no  two 
states  have  the  same  internal  political  organization,  so  no  two 
men  can  have  the  same  faculties  or  capability.  Hence  sen- 
sations, of  different  men,  differ  in  volume  and  effect.  But  the 
machinery,  the  mechanism  of  transfer,  must  necessarily  be  about 
the  same.  Sensations  are  conveyed  over  the  highways  of  the 
nerves  by  messengers  vast  in  number,  rapid  in  movement  and 
continuous  in  service.  The  waste  is  enormous;  hence  we  tire 
in  traveling  and  seeing  sights,  and  need  time  (sleep)  in  which  to 
reorganize.  The  man  at  headquarters,  the  Ego-atom,  tireless 
and  alert,  receives  and  considers  the  official  reports  of  his  sub- 
ordinates, and  makes  up  his  mind  as  to  the  outside  facts.  Then 
and  only  until  then  has  he  experienced  ^^ sensation.'' 

Sec.  39. — Ideas.  While  traveling  a  street  a  circumstance 
perhaps  occurs  which  fills  our  mind  with  pleasant  and  amusing 
thoughts.  From  us  these  thoughts  stream  out  in  little  cloud- 
like masses  on  the  air.  They  are  substance,  and  represent  the 
destruction  of  tissue;  small  indeed  in  volume  but  representing 
millions  of  atoms.  Another  person  comes  along,  and  breathing 
in  these  atoms  is  acted  on  by  them.  Thought  is  infectious,  and 
those  who  are  not  immune  are  smitten  by  it.     The  rose  exhales 


44  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  I TH URIEL. 

a  fragrance;  we  breathe  it  in  with  exquisite  surprise.  Much 
more  would  we  be  pleased  could  we  but  understand  the  rose's 
language.  Men  exhale  thoughts,  as  roses  do  perfume.  Each 
is  a  dissipation  of  substance.  The  substance  is  the  messenger 
of  the  thought ;  without  the  substance  there  could  be  ho  com- 
munication of  thought;  without  the  thought  the  substance 
would  be  motionless  and  sterile.  And  so  it  is  that  ideas  are 
practically  substance.  They  are  sublimated  substance;  they 
arise  and  are  thrown  off  as  the  product  of  the  interaction  of  atom 
on  atom  brought  together  by  combination,  selection,  affinity, 
and  family  ties.  A  gallon  of  water  or  a  bushel  of  coal  cannot, 
as  such,  evolve  an  idea;  they  must  join  some  organization. 
And  all  organizations  have  ideas,  using  the  word  as  synonymous 
with  thought.  And  all  through  the  air  are  floating  thoughts, 
fancies  and  ideas,  readable,  conceivable,  comprehensible  to  those 
alone  who  understand  the  languages  of  the  substances  which 
convey  them.  And,  as  in  wireless  telegraphy,  the  receiver  who 
takes  the  message  must  be  attuned  to  take  it ;  the  listener  must 
know  the  code.  So  it  is  that  ideas  originate ;  they  sweep  com- 
munities with  resistless  force,  and  disappear  we  know  not  why 
or  whither.  They  lie  dormant  perhaps  for  ages,  and  rise  again 
to  please  or  vex  mankind.  Men  and  communities  catch  ideas 
in  manner  not  unlike  the  way  in  which  they  catch  a  plague. 
Men,  animals,  trees,  crystals  are  evolving  thought, — everything 
is  thinking ;  much  of  it  we  take  in,  but  unfortunately  we  as- 
similate or  understand  but  little. 

Sec.  40. — Health.  There  is  due  from  a  general  to  his  army 
the  highest  purpose  and  the  most  unwearied  attention.  He 
can  inspire  the  army  with  confidence  and  hope;  can  bring  it 
up  to  an  increasing  efficiency,  or  can  ruin  it  by  neglect  and  bad 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 45 

example.  It  is  so  with  the  Ego-atom :  he  must  be  active,  honest 
and  firm  with  himself;  he  must  enforce  discipline  and  good 
order;  he  must  always  maintain  cordial  relations  with  his  soul. 
By  unremitting  cleanliness  he  must  free  himself  from  the  scamps, 
thieves  and  camp-followers  which  gather  and  hang  constantly 
around  his  army.  He  must  study  his  men  and  find  out  what 
they  can  do,  and  what  they  like;  what  is  harmful  and  what  is 
best.  He  must  not  strain  their  friendship  by  dissipation  and 
excess;  or  their  loyalty  by  overwork  or  neglect.  Few  are  the 
secrets  that  the  Ego-atom  can  keep  from  his  soul  or  his  soldiers. 
If  an  insurrection  arises  he  must  in  positive  language  command 
it  to  stop;  if  danger  from  without  is  threatened  he  must  give 
timely  warning.  A  man  may  walk  unharmed  through  contagion 
if  he  is  all  on  guard.  An  Ego-atom  may  march  his  army  un- 
scathed through  the  pestilence  that  rages  at  noonday,  provided 
he  has  in  advance  informed  his  troops  and  put  them  on  the  alert. 
Shoulder  to  shoulder  they  will  resist  an  invader  and  repulse  an 
attack.  But  there  must  not  be  disloyalty  in  the  ranks  or  muti- 
neers at  headquarters  to  help  the  foe.  That  is,  the  Ego-atom 
must  not  be  at  variance  with  his  army  or  his  soul.  Health  is  a 
matter  of  mind  and  government.  When  health  is  lost  the  Ego- 
atom  can,  with  the  help  of  the  soul,  do  much  to  restore  it.  When 
driven  to  necessity  the  dangerful  expedient  of  outside  help 
(medicine)  may  be  employed.  In  our  Civil  War,  at  time  of 
greatest  danger  we  freed  and  armed  the  blacks, — that  was  medi- 
cine. It  is  best,  however,  to  let  the  troops  fight  out  their  own 
battles,  enforce  their  own  discipline,  and  win  their  own  victories ; 
they  thereby  learn  the  art  of  war,  the  habit  of  self-government, 
and  acquire  the  confidence  of  success. 

Sec.  41. — Disease.     During  every  day  that  an  army  marches 


46 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 

there  are  a  number  of  mischievous  happenings ;  there  are  a  cer- 
tain number  of  fights  among  the  men,  a  certain  number  of  deser- 
tions and  deaths,  some  of  the  wagons  collapse,  a  piece  of  artillery 
gets  a  broken  axle,  some  soldiers  are  promoted,  some  officers  re- 
duced, somebody  gets  mutinous,  some  are  sent  to  the  hospital. 
So,  every  day,  with  man :  he  is  a  vast  army  engaged  in  a  con- 
stant march  and  almost  continuous  battle.  Abhorrent  forces 
are  always  at  work;  spies,  enemies  and  insurgents  are  always 
within  the  lines;  ambitious  mutineers,  clever  malcontents  and 
insidious  foes  are  ever  present.  Every  man  carries  at  all  times 
within  himself  the  seeds  of  every  disease.  The  policemen  of  the 
blood  are  on  constant  duty  to  overcome  and  expel  these  dan- 
gerous and  intriguing  adversaries.  The  army  must  go  into 
camp  (sleep)  from  time  to  time  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  re- 
organize and  re-form.  Hence  overwork  leaves  man  a  prey  to 
many  diseases.  Rest  and  mental  determination  will  cure  most 
of  them.  The  mind  by  its  own  inherent  processes  sets  the  forces 
at  work  that  will  overcome  most  ailments:  Sometimes  the  as- 
saults of  enemies  within  are  so  vigorous  that  instead  of  fighting 
a  long,  doubtful  and  exhausting  contest  it  is  better  to  call  to  our 
aid  and  employ,  outside  assistance.  By  employing  janizaries 
who  will  go  directly  to  the  spot  and  help  the  weary  legions  who 
are  fighting,  we  sometimes  win  a  speedy  victory.  But  these 
janizaries  are  dangerous,  sometimes  they  (the  medicines)  will 
not  fight  (act),  sometimes  they  plunder  their  allies  and  must  be 
overpowered  and  expelled.  When  mutineers  arise  and  depose 
the  general,  and  discord  prevails  and  the  government  is  over- 
thrown, then  a  condition  arises  that  in  men  is  called  ^'insanity." 
Pain  is  simply  grief  that  arises  from  bad  news  which  is  brought 
by  the  messengers  from  the  invaded  or  insurrectionary  districts. 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 47 

It  can  be  stopped  only  by  preventing  the  travel  of  the  messen- 
gers on  the  road, — by  obstructing  the  nerves  and  decreasing  the 
information  on  which  the  grief  is  based.  This  remedy  is  called 
anesthetic.  Of  death  as  the  result  of  disease  we  will  speak  here- 
inafter (Sec.  45). 

Sec.  42. — Action.  We  watch  a  baseball  player  and  see  him 
throwing,  catching,  and  striking ;  we  are  amazed  at  the  intelli- 
gent rapidity  with  which  he  acts ;  let  us  analyze  his  movements. 
From  the  brain,  the  center  of  thought  and  direction,  his  hands 
are  distant  about  two  feet  and  a  half,  by  the  nearest  traveled 
route.  Every  movement  consists  of  five  factors.  First,  the 
brain  must  mature  thoughts  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  certain 
combined  act  and  purpose.  Second,  the  brain  must  send  mes- 
sengers to  the  various  members  of  the  complex  organization, 
communicating  to  each  the  special  thought,  when  matured,  and 
commanding  its  execution.  Third,  the  recipient  of  the  message 
must  understand  the  language  in  which  the  message  is  couched, 
and  comprehend  its  purpose  and  scope.  Fourth,  the  recipient 
must  proceed  to  carry  out  the  mandate  of  the  message  with  such 
speed  as  is  required.  Fifth,  all  must  message  back,  as  rapidly 
as  possible,  their  various  acts  done  in  compliance  with  the  mes- 
sages. These  return  messages  may  also  be  corroborated  from 
the  eye  and  ear.  By  constant  practice  all  of  these  processes  be- 
come more  complete;  the  thought  becomes  more  definite  and 
prompt;  the  messengers  become  acquainted  with  their  routes; 
they  acquire  a  better  use  of  the  imperial  vernacular ;  they  know 
more  certainly  where  the  local  headquarters  are  situated ;  they 
become  acquainted  with  their  superior  officers  and  convey  the 
verbal  messages  more  certainly ;  by  experience  the  recipients  of 
the  messages  interpret  them,  and  construe  them,  more  accurately ; 


48  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 


and  report  back  with  more  promptness  and  efficiency.  After  a 
while  the  subordinate  headquarters  know  so  well  what  is  expected 
that  they  can  go  ahead  and, act  almost  automatically.  All  of 
this  thought,  message,  interpretation,  action  and  report  must  be 
originated,  sent  and  acted  on  by  intelligent,  fraternal,  talking, 
thinking,  understanding  atoms.  There  is  in  this  as  in  war  a 
great  waste  of  atoms.  All  action  of  the  human  body  is  the 
counterpart  of  war.  All  action  is  wasteful  and  brings  about 
hunger,  that  is,  a  demand  for  recruits  and  reinforcement.  Hu- 
man existence  is  continual  exertion  within,  and  war  without, 
requiring  at  all  times  force  and  generalship. 

Sec.  43.— Messengers.  The  laws  of  the  United  States  may 
be  found  in  a  hundred  places  in  England ;  the  law^s  of  England 
may  be  found  around  the  world.  And  so  it  is  with  thoughts, 
or  rather  with  the  messengers  of  thought, — -'they  are  found  out- 
side of  the  place  of  their  birth  and  outside  of  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  thinker.  And  this  brings  up  to  us  the  answer  of  the  ques- 
tion, "Where  do  ideas  come  from?"  If  thought  is  not  a  sub- 
stance,— if  separated  from  its  messenger  service  it  is  a  mere  ab- 
straction, then  we  must  deal  with  the  messenger.  Thus  the 
messenger  embodies  the  thought,  and  we  may  safely  treat  the 
messenger  as  the  thought ;  and,  as  the  messenger  is  a  substance, 
we  may,  for  the  purpose  of  handling  the  thought,  treat  it  as  a 
substance. 

Where,  therefore,  do  ideas  come  from?  We  may  say  in 
reply:  They  are  messengers,  they  are  everywhere;  we  breathe 
them  in,  we  gather  them  in.  Like  birds  of  passage,  or  like 
errant  zephyrs,  they  singly,  or  in  multitudes,  forever  come  and 
go.  Thoughts  are  constantly  originated  and  the  messengers 
are  constantly  dispatched;  they  are  pushed,  they  are  speeded. 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 49 

Some  go  where  they  are  sent,  some  arrive  at  their  destination, 
others  wander,  ramble,  straggle,  desert.  They  come  to  us  from 
planet  and  star.  They  interchange  from  soul  to  soul.  They 
may  be  sent  telepathically.  We  give  them  as  a  rabble  little  heed  ; 
we  do  not  understand  their  languages,  we  cannot  interpret  the 
purport  of  their  messages,  except  that  now  and  then  one  of  them 
is  couched  in  a  dialect  which  we  dimly  comprehend.  Never- 
theless there  are  those  w^ho  seem  gifted  with  strange  wisdom 
and  perception  and  who  catch  the  hidden  meaning  of  messages, 
the  existence  of  which  to  others  is  unknown.  These  men  are 
geniuses.  Yet  all  of  us  have  the  faculty  to  some  extent  of  in- 
terpreting some  of  these  messages ;  hence  often  there  are  simul- 
taneous inventions,  and  thoughts,  in  places  far  removed ;  and 
messages  between  distant  kindred  and  separated  souls. 

Sec.  44. — Memory.  Memory  is  a  phenomenon  of  combina- 
tion; it  pertains  but  very  little  to  the  individual  atom.  Mem- 
ory is  the  retention  of  sensations  which  have  been  experienced; 
that  is  to  say,  a  retention  of  the  media  by  which  facts  have  been 
communicated.  A  state  government  has  a  bureau  of  records 
where  are  deposited  the  archives  of  the  state;  these  archives 
compose  the  official  history  of  the  state.  The  power  to  go  into 
these  archives  and  find  at  will  what  is  wanted  would  constitute 
memory  on  the  part  of  the  state.  If  the  records  were  so  broken, 
scattered  or  confused  that  sought-for  documents  could  not  be 
found,  then  official  memory  would  be  gone.  The  messages 
which  to  the  Ego-atom  come  from  ear  and  eye  and  touch  are, 
like  photographs  and  like  phonograph  records,  filed  away  when 
they  have  been  considered.  It  is  a  wonderful  process,  not  easily 
explainable,  how  all  these  various  forms  of  message  and  report 
are  reduced  to  a  common  form  by  the  able  and  experienced  staff 


50 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  I TH URIEL. 

at  headquarters,  prepared,  assorted,  arranged  and  preserved. 
Each  hving  man  has  a  bureau  of  records  in  which  the  archives 
of  his  hfe  are  stored.  The  finest  organization  that  can  be 
dreamed  of  is  man.  There  is  nothing  around  him  to  compare 
in  method,  scope  or  fine  adjustment,  with  what  is  found  within. 
But  all  records  are  not  kept  alike,  and,  as  they  are  all  perishable, 
most  of  them  are  lost.  National  records  are  lost  by  war,  pesti- 
lence, and  time ;  personal  records  are  lost  by  disease,  bad  habits, 
and  dissolution.  The  utility  of  all  records  depends  upon  the 
ability  to  find  immediately  what  is  wanted.  Within  the  man 
the  perfection  of  the  organization  is  of  the  most  importance. 
Some  men  can  call  up  instantly  and  accurately  all  important 
facts  of  which  they  have  been  aware,  while  others  grope  labori- 
ously through  fragments  and  disorder.  It  may  be  likened  to  a 
library,  properly  or  improperly  classified  and  -managed  by  a  good 
or  bad  hbrarian.  At  last  comes  the  invasion  of  disease  and  the 
Alexandrine  library  is  no  more.  Memory  pertains  to  the  atom 
but  in  smallest  degree.  It  is  principally  the  phenomenon  of 
combination.  Memory  as  such  exists  only  in  contemplation; 
like  thought,  it  is  an  abstraction,  but  memories,  that  is  to  say, 
the  definite  remembrances  of  the  things  remembered,  they  are 
substances. 

Sec.  45.— Death.  As  any  other  empire  perishes,  so  perishes 
the  atomic  empire  of  the  man.  When  the  Huns  and  Vandals 
of  disease  invade  it,  or  cataclysms  or  internal  disorders  over- 
whelm it,  it  ceases  to  exist,  as  any  other  empire  ceases.  When 
the  end  of  order  and  dominion  has  come,  the  Ego-atom  sum- 
mons his  staff,  his  aides-de-camp,  his  counsel  and  his  courts, 
his  guards  and  sentinels,  the  officers  of  his  armies,  and  those  en- 
trusted with  participation  in  government ;    then,  fleeing  from 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL.  51 

the  distracted  empire,  it  and  its  records  are  consigned  to  fate. 
Like  Hannibal  with  his  staff  they  seek  a  foreign  land  and  another 
opportunity.  That  is  to  say,  the  Ego-atom  and  his  soul  go 
forth  to  do  again  and  perhaps  in  a  better  way  what  they  have 
done  before.  If  this  now  roving  atom,  with  its  soul,  were  visible, 
it  would  have  the  seeming  of  a  sparkling  mist  of  the  exact  out- 
lines of  the  former  body  which  it  had  vacated,  each  atom  in  its 
accustomed  place  of  duty,  nothing  lacking  in  detail  of  outline 
or  form ;  each  sentinel  at  his  post,  every  corporal  with  his  guard. 
All  of  this  million-atomed  outline  is  movable  and  flexiWe;  it 
can  contract  and  condense  itself  into  a  single  spark  of  most  in- 
finitesimal weight.  A  weight  subject  to  its  will.  It  can  then 
reassume  its  former  shape,  because  each  atom  knows  its  place 
and  where  and  how  to  go.  The  balance  of  the  human  body,  the 
rank  and  file,  that  which  gives  it  weight,  falls  a  prey  to  anarchy  ; 
thousands  of  leaders  arise,  enlist  recruits  and  aspire  to  dominance ; 
those  as  worms  fight  and  prey  upon  each  other  until  at  last  a 
general  flight  begins.  The  fugitives  seeking  new  situations  start 
life  anew,  elsewhere,  with  the  lessons  they  have  learned.  All  of 
the  official  records  of  the  empire  are  left  to  destruction;  it  is 
well  they  are.  Of  what  use  are  they  except  to  embarrass  the 
future  ? 

Sec.  46. — Sleep.  Did  you  ever  see  a  legislative  body  con- 
duct itself  when  its  speaker  had  vacated  the  chair?  The  jokes,  the 
stories,  the  mock  proceedings,  the  revelry?  It  illustrates  sleep. 
The  Ego-atom  is  gone,  and  those  who  are  present  tell  strange 
stories  of  what  has  been,  or  might  be.  Among  the  membership 
at  headquarters  are  actors  and  mimics,  historians  and  novelists, 
warriors  and  cowards.  Some  of  them  tell  blood-curdling  tales 
of  the  past ;  some  recount  fictitious  stories  of  the  present ;  and 


52  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 

some  make  impossible  prophecies  of  the  future.  These  are  un- 
official and  are  not  recorded ;  sometimes  the  Ego-atom  suddenly 
returns,  and  without  taking  the  chair,  listens  briefly  to  what 
transpires.  Some  of  it  may  fix  his  attention.  Some  of  it  as 
he  takes  the  chair  he  may  cause  to  be  put  on  record,  and  pre- 
served. Sometimes  messages  come  to  the  adjourned  house  and 
are  delivered,  when,  if  they  came  during  the  session,  they  would 
not  have  been  received,  or  would  have  been  neglected.  When 
the  Ego-atom  is  not  at  headquarters  he  is  visiting  the  provinces 
of  his  empire.  He  is  inspecting  his  army,  looking  after  supplies, 
and  defenses.  He  is  stationing  his  sentinels  and  visiting  the 
outposts.  He  is  instructing  his  subordinates  and  superintend- 
ing repairs.  There  is  very  much  for  him  to  do.  There  are  spies 
and  enemies  without  and  within.  If  he  should  stay  at  head- 
quarters, and  not  look  after  the  hourly  needs  of  his  empire,  it 
would  go  to  confusion  and  ruin  in  a  few  days.  He  is  the  man 
who  must  attend  to  it;  it  is  his  empire,  and  he  alone  must  do 
the  work  and  keep  down  insubordination  and  the  constant  drift 
toward  anarchy  and  disorder.  When  he  is  absent  the  carnival 
at  headquarters  begins ;  we  call  it  dreaming. 

Sec.  47. — Ghosts.  When  the  Ego-atom  leaves  the  body, 
attended  by  its  soul,  the  whole,  if  it  could  be  seen,  would  re- 
semble in  some  respect  what  is  called  a  ^' ghost,"  and  we  will  call 
it  such.  No  sane  man  ever  saw  one.  Insane  persons  occasion- 
ally see  them.  We  have  shown  in  Sec.  45  how  the  soul-atom 
with  its  entourage  leaves  the  body  after  death ;  how  it  can  as- 
sume the  shape  of  the  departed,  or  concentrate  itself  into  a  point. 
The  ghost  cannot  talk,  because  it  has  not  the  machinery  to  put 
the  air  in  motion,  but  it  can  sec.  It  may  immediately,  upon  its 
release,  begin  to  hunt  a  new  home,  to  acquire  a  new  command 


THE  Autobiography  of  ithuriel. 53 

and  seek  again  the  delights  of  leadership  and  rule.  It  may  often- 
times do  much  better,  as  we  shall  see.  If  of  a  low  character  it 
most  generally  tries  to  enter  some  empire  already  formed,  tries 
to  overthrow  its  ruler  and  take  the  short  course  of  a  bandit  to- 
ward acquiring  sovereignty.  It  generally  fails.  We  see  this 
after  the  battlefield  and  plague  have  unhoused  many  hapless 
souls.  In  their  eagerness  and  haste  some  of  them — the  worst  of 
them — make  attacks  right  and  left;  we  say,  ^'It  is  the  deadly 
typhus."  Finally,  worn  out  and  torn  to  pieces  by  their  rivals 
and  opponents,  and  shorn  of  their  adherents  and  staff,  they  take 
humbler  places,  and  seek  to  rise  by  slower  and  more  gracious 
methods.     They  must  be  born  again. 

But  the  ghost  of  fiction  and  romance — he  does  not  exist;  he 
does  not  walk  by  the  moonlight,  he  does  not  talk,  revealing 
dark  and  damning  secrets;  he  has  no  secrets.  Every  one  is 
armed  against  a  ghost.  Each  soul  is  within  a  citadel  with  an 
army  to  repel  an  invader;  and  having  almost  every  advantage 
of  numbers  and  situation,  can  easily  win.  But  if  the  invaded 
territory  is  governed  by  a  vicious  chief,  corrupt  in  thought  and 
habit,  with  no  discipline  or  ideals,  the  army  of  defense  will  be 
undisciplined,  the  officers  will  partake  of  the  character  of  the 
chief,  and  the  battle  will  be,  instead  of  an  easy  victory,  the  ruin 
and  downfall  of  both.  There  are  ^^ ghosts,"  but  not  the  ghosts 
of  fable,  and  are  unseen  of  men;  there  are  also  ^'spirits" — mes- 
sengers from  the  bright  and  distant  stars — these  are  entirely 
different;  they  are  occasionally  seen  of  men;  we  will  speak  of 
them  elsewhere. 

Sec.  48. — Angels.  The  Ego-atom,  and  its  entourage  which 
we  call  the  ^^soul,"  finally  disencumbered  from  the  mass  of  crude 
material  called  ''body,"  goes  on  with  its  immortal  history  and 


54 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  I TH URIEL. 

development,  as  it  has  ever  done.  Upon  distant  stars  in  dis- 
tant constellations  higher  and  higher  grades  of  existence  are  at- 
tained; and  from  time  to  time  messengers  are  sent  from  there 
to  herC;  just  as  England  sends  her  ships  to  the  distant  islands  of 
the  sea.  It  is,  as  we  shall  hereinafter  observe,  one  vast  domain 
over  which  one  atom,  which  has  achieved  supremacy,  is  ruling. 
So  long  as  we  hereafter,  in  distant  constellations,  are  in  sub- 
ordinate places,  so  long  are  we  liable  to  be  sent  on  errands  of 
duty  and  concern  to  the  island  spheres,  the  earth  among  the  num- 
ber, which  comprise  the  imperial  domain. 

These  messengers  have  from  time  to  time  been  seen  of  men. 
They  were  seen  by  Socrates,  and  Christ,  and  Saint  Cecilia,  and 
by  Joan  of  Arc.  They  have  been  seen  by  thousands  in  the  past ; 
they  have  been  seen  by  the  living.  They  will  be  seen  oftener  and 
oftener  in  the  future. 

Sec.  49. — Future  Memory.  As  said  before, — memory  is  a 
phenomenon  of  combination.  How  much  of  memory  remains  to 
man — to  the  EgOratom  of  man — after  dissolution?  Obviously 
but  very  little.  The  records  are  gone;  there  remains  not  much 
except  the  residuum  of  experience.  Why  should  we  in  our  up- 
ward flight  be  burdened  with  the  weight  of  old  memories.  All 
lives  are  disappointments,  but  none  of  them  are  failures.  I  do 
not  remember  when  I  was  a  monad;  I  do  not  remember  my 
sufferings  as  a  trilobite ;  nor  my  death  at  Pharsalia.  What  my 
existence  was  before  my  present  form  I  do  not  care  to  investi- 
gate. It  was  all  disappointment,  and  I  am  glad  that  it  has  been 
forgotten.  And  the  present  arrangement  is  the  proper  one: 
how  can  there  be  progress  upward  if  we  are  encumbered  with  a 
past?  We  must  fly  light  if  we  would  fly  far.  Our  course  is  up- 
ward— rapidly  upward — and  as  we  do  not  now  care  to  remember 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL.      55 

when  we  were  mollusks  at  the  bottom  of  an  ocean,  so  the  time 
will  come  when  we  will  not  care  to  remember  when  we  were  unr- 
happy  beings  at  the  bottom  of  an  atmosphere. 

It  has  been  said  that  death  with  loss  of  memory  is  extinction  ; 
and  that  another  life  without  memory  of  the  present  is  not  im- 
mortality. In  a  barren  sense  that  is  true;  but  when  the  soul- 
atom  knows  that  it  is  immortal,  and  that  it  will  live  on  and  ever 
on,  that  one  fact  is  all  which,  for  the  present,  it  need  know  or  re- 
member. The  destruction  of  the  archives  of  memory  is  no  loss 
to  the  power  and  mental  strength  of  the  Ego-atom.  Although 
an  athlete  after  long  and  continuous  exercise,  by  which  he  ac- 
quired great  strength,  should  forget  all  the  circumstances  and 
processes  by  which  it  was  acquired,  yet  he  would  hold  it  unim- 
paired. So  the  soul,  although  it  might  forget  the  facts  and  ex- 
periences by  which  great  mental  power  and  aptitude  were  ac- 
quired, would  still  retain  its  acquirements.  It  would  lose  its 
ladder  but  would  keep  its  rise.  We  may  not  remember  our 
mother,  but  we  have  had  a  million  mothers.  Which  one  shall 
we  idolize, — only  the  last? 

Sec.  50. — The  Scheme  of  Probabilities.  In  order  that  man 
may  advance  and  hold  his  ground  by  force  of  his  own  power  and 
experience,  he  must  have  no  personal  help  from  above.  He  may 
get  help  from  above,  but  it  is  general  to  the  race  or  species ;  he 
gets,  and  should  get,  no  individual  help.  He  must  work  his 
way  up  the  mountain,  step  by  step.  There  is  no  rope  let  down 
to  draw  him  up ;  there  is  no  push  from  below, — he  must  do  all 
the  work  himself.  But,  each  one  must  have  a  fair  chance ;  each 
one  must  have  an  equal  opportunity.  If  individual  help  came 
from  above  it  would  be  selective,  partial  and  unfair,  .therefore 
the  fight  below  is  on  the  merits ;   each  one  for  himself.    What 


56 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 

then  happens?  Energy  and  zeal  must  be  reinforced  by  good- 
fortune.  A  thousand  spores  float  in  the  air,  only  six  catch.  A 
thousand  seeds  fall  to  the  ground,  only  a  few  put  forth.  Of  a 
million  eggs  spawned  in  the  river,  but  a  few  survive.  A  thousand 
ambitious  men  in  a  state  wish  to  go  as  delegates  at  large  to  a 
presidential  convention,  only  four  are  chosen.  In  the  matter 
of  reproduction  the  existence  of  sex  is  taken  advantage  of  as  an 
agency  in  bringing  about  fair  results.  The  female  may  be  com- 
pared to  a  garden,  and  the  male  to  the  gardener  who  selects  what 
is  to  be  planted.  The  ambitious  atoms  are  selected  by  the 
male;  he  sends  them  forth  to  take  their  chances.  The  fittest 
are  selected,  the  luckiest  survive.  The  female  makes  no  se- 
lection, but  she  furnished  the  opportunities  for  those  selected. 
She  takes  care  of  the  luckiest.  Each  one  has  his  chance ;  every 
one  an  opportunity.  The  atoms  throw  their  own  dice  and  the 
parents  take  care  of  the  winner.  This  is  '^The  scheme  of  proba- 
bilities," which  is  not  only  necessary  but  comes  about  naturally. 
It  is  the  only  fair  one.  If  there  is  only  one  promotion  to  a 
thousand  candidates,  let  them  settle  it  among  themselves.  Let 
those  defeated  try  again. 

Sec.  51. — Sex.  Sex  indicates  a  habit  of  thought.  The  idea 
of  sex  embraces  two  principles,  progress  and  conservatism. 
These  are  antithetical,  are  found  in  all  nations,  found  in  all  na- 
ture. In  an  atom-nation,  as  in  a  world-nation,  there  are  found 
two  parties.  They  may  be  called  Democrat  or  Republican, 
Whig  or  Tory,  but  they  are  elementally  the  same, — they  are 
male  and  female.  In  numerical  strength  they  are  about  even. 
Sex  is  a  sort  of  division  of  labor  both  mental  and  physical.  One 
pushes  ahead  and  brings  in,  the  other  is  cautious,  protective, 
and  conservative.     They  are  both  necessary  to  ''The  Scheme  of 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHVRIEL. 57 

Probabilities''  of  which  we  have  spoken  (Sec.  50).  Therefore 
sex  is  a  habit  of  thought;  and,  while  it  does  not  inhere  as  a 
quality  in  the  individual  atom,  it  early  characterizes  the  com- 
bination into  which  the  atom  enters.  That  is  to  say — atoms 
are  not  male  and  female  in  the  beginning  as  primordial  atoms, 
but  by  experience,  as  they  combine  and  re-combine,  as  they 
become  Ego-atoms  in  various  associations  and  undergo  various 
trials  and  tests,  they,  by  virtue  of  what  has  happened,  take  on 
the  mental  configuration  of  sex.  They  become  endowed  with 
such  habit  of  thought  as  stamps  them  as  belonging  to  one  sex 
or  the  other.  Thus  mentally  fashioned  they  go  on  from  era  to 
era,  carrying  with  them  their  experiences  and  modes  of  thought 
into  a  thousand  lives  as  they  struggle  up  and  up  to  higher  and 
nobler  planes.  This  difference  of  thought  marks  out  two  classes 
of  atomic  combination.  That  it  is  availed  of  in  propagation 
and  increase  is  wholly  disconnected  and  secondary.  And  so  it  is 
that  there  is  sex  in  crystals,  in  plants,  in  snowflakes,  in  every 
living,  breathing  thing.  And  so  it  is  that  one  sex  loves  the  other, 
and  enjoys  the  society  of  the  other,  for  the  bold  loves  the  gentle 
and  the  prudent ;  and  the  conservative  loves  the  strenuous  and 
the  brave.  When  the  two  unite  they  combine  all  that  is.  They 
are  each  the  hemisphere  of  some  globe,  greater  or  less  in  size. 

Sec.  52. — Persistency  of  Sex.  Wifehood  and  maternity  do 
not  end  with  earth.  The  duality  of  sex  continues  upward  and 
onward  forever.  If  it  should  cease,  advancement  would  cease. 
We  could  not  reef  up  and  secure  progress  as  it  was  being  slowly 
and  painfully  acquired,  and  we  could  not  perpetuate  it,  unless 
the  classification  of  sex  were  continued.  It  would  be  useless  to 
develop  man  from  the  crystal,  or  the  plant,  if,  upon  disintegra- 
tion, he  must  revert  to  the  beginning.     But  if,  when  on  arrival 


58  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

to  the  upper  class,  he  can  perpetuate  the  class,  then,  upon  it  as 
a  foundation,  a  higher  class  may  be  developed.  And  so  it  is, 
class  upon  class  is  builded,  to  a  height  and  extent  of  which  mind 
can  but  dimly  conceive.  And  this  does  not  end  with  man,  and 
is  not  confined  to  earthly  things,  but,  growing  in  importance,  it 
becomes  the  rule  of  higher  life,  universe  without  end.  And  so 
it  is  that  we  may  justly  pray  to  "our  father  and  mother  who  are 
in  heaven."  And  so  it  is  that  class  after  class  of  superior  be- 
ings, rising  ever  so  high,  by  the  power  of  reproduction,  grasp  and 
retain  the  progress  and  the  benedictions  of  the  past.  There  are 
those  who  are  born  as  minor  gods  and  goddesses,  and  they  have 
those  above  them  to  whom  they  may  look  with  adoration  and 
hope.  And  to  all  this  condition  of  things  we  men  and  women 
of  the  world  may  turn  our  thoughts,  with  ambitious  longings 
for  achievement,  knowing  that  glorious  futures  are  before  us, 
and  that  the  long  and  rocky  road  which  we  have  already  trav- 
eled is  the  most  wearisome  portion  of  the  journey. 

Hence  it  is  that  we  have  the  million  mothers  as  we  rise  and 
rise.  May  have  the  same  beloved  spouse,  or  mother,  world 
after  world.  The  father  may  have  the  same  sons;  and  the 
family,  although  it  does  not  know  it,  may  pull  itself  together 
like  magnets  in  the  universe.  And  at  some  distant  time  by 
message  through  the  wireless  ether  may  utter  each  to  each, 
' '  Where  have  you  been  so  long  V 

Sec.  53. — Sex- Atoms.  The  idea  of  sex  comes  to  man  through 
so  many  ages  of  experience  that  he  feels  familiar  to  it.  He  would 
not  care  to  exchange  his  sex.  All  persons  are  satisfied  with  their 
sex,  no  matter  how  dissatisfied  with  their  individual  lots.  The 
sex  of  any  certain,  particular  human  being  is  the  sex  of  the  Ego- 
atom  of  such  being.    Of  the  billion  of  atoms  associated  with 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 59 

that  Ego-atom  and  forming  that  human  being,  only  a  majority 
need  be  of  the  same  sex.  For  instance,  a  man  may  be  51  per 
cent  male  and  49  per  cent  female.  Were  he  all  male  atoms  he 
would  be  unbalanced.  If  his  majority  were  female  atoms  he 
would  become  effeminate.  Majorities  change  in  atom-nations 
as  in  others.  By  this  change  of  majorities,  brought  about  by 
accident  or  force,  bold  men  become  pusillanimous,  cowards  be- 
come bold,  and  women  become  daring.  A  man  is  what  his  atoms 
make  him.  It  is  not  altogether  beyond  his  power  to  select  his 
atoms.  The  best  formula  for  man  or  woman  is  a  good  working 
majority  of  atoms  of  the  proper  sex.  A  majority  that  can  be 
rehed  upon  at  all  times  to  sustain  the  administration.  The  Ego- 
atom  must  have  those  of  his  own  way  of  thinking  to  depend  on, 
and  they  are  those  from  whom  the  legislatures  of  the  brain  are 
chosen.  And  so  from  the  crystal  and  the  seaweed,  hand  in 
hand,  the  sexes  come  up  together,  associated  in  the  co-educa- 
tional experiences  of  the  universe.  There  are  many  grades 
higher  up  than  man,  and  hand  in  hand  the  sexes  will  together 
go,  and  there  will  be  children  born  in  the  grades  above  us  whose 
dower  and  birthright  will  be  too  splendid  for  us  as  yet  to  con- 
sider or  conceive.  There  we,  who  are  most  fortunate,  will 
soonest  arrive;  and  others  through  pain  and  anguish  and  ex- 
perience of  woe  will,  as  laggards,  ultimately  arrive.  But  they 
will  arrive  able,  ambitious,  and  equipped  for  what  there  is  to 
come. 

Sec.  54.— Matter  and  Thought.  We  are  led  by  the  fore- 
going up  to  this : 

The  original,  primordial  atom  had  consciousness  and  a  ca- 
pacity to  think.  To  possess  both  loves  and  hates  it  must  have 
had  the  power  of  thinking.     If  atoms  have  the  power  to  com- 


60  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

bine,  and  to  adhere  to  the  combination,  they  must  have  the 
faculty  of  imagining,  of  determining,  of  beheving.  These  mental 
powers  become  by  combination  stronger  and  stronger  with  ex- 
perience and  practice ;  and  so  it  is  that  atoms  think,  and  when 
combined  become  parts  of  thoughts.  In  this  one  sense  the 
atom  is  a  substance,  and  in  another  it  is  a  portion  of  a.  thought. 
As  the  atom  and  the  thought  cannot  be  disassociated,  one  is  the 
practical  synonym  of  the  other.  Therefore  electricity  is  thought, 
and  light  is  thought,  and  every  organized  thing  is  thought.  A 
rock,  a  tree,  a  world,  a  universe  is  a  thought.  And  in  the  same 
sense  all  substance  is  thought  and  all  thought  is  substance. 

While  it  may  not  be  true  that  ^'Flowers  are  the  thoughts 
of  angels  whereby  they  write  on  hill  and  dale  mysterious  truths," 
nevertheless  flowers  are  thoughts ;  and  every  organized  substance 
has  thought  as  its  organic  basis.  There  can  be  no  organization 
without  thought,  and  the  substance  embodies  the  thought. 
Some  thoughts  are  good  and  some  are  bad.  Nevertheless,  there 
may  be  atoms  that  as  yet  are  without  experience,  who  have 
a  feebly  developed  consciousness  and  are  as  yet  practically  inert ; 
they  cannot  form  combinations  and  are  hardly  yet  to  be  classed, 
except  potentially,  as  thought.  They  are  the  laggards,  but  they 
in  time,  in  the  great  eternity  of  time,  will  become  proficient. 
God  is  the  greatest  of  all  combinations  of  substance  and  thought. 
But  He  is  outside,  and  by  Himself,  separate  from  the  great 
volume  of  substance  and  thought,  and  all  substance  and  thought 
is  not  God,  nor  is  God  a  combination  of  the  whole.  He  is 
simply  Himself.     We  will  treat  of  this  further  in  Sec.  72. 

Sec.  bb. — Telepath3^  Light,  as  stated,  is  a  substance  which 
is  molecularly  small:  electricity  is  a  substance  which  is  smaller; 
thought  is  a  substance  which  may  be  still  smaller.     We  can  pro- 


. THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 61 

ject  light  afar;  we  can  project  electricity  to  places  more  difficult 
and  remote.  We  may  send  messages  by  light  signals  to  great 
distances,  if  some  one  is  there  skilled  in  receiving  them.  We- 
may  send  wireless  electrical  messages  to  greater  distances,  if 
some  one  is  there  skilled  in  receiving  them.  We  may  send 
thought  messages  still  farther,  if  some  one  is  there  skilled  in  re- 
ceiving them.  To  receive  a  thought  message  the  recipient  must 
be,  so  to  speak,  attuned  to  receive  it.  The  time  will  come  when 
the  human  family  will  largely  communiciate  by  silent  thought. 
The  time  will  come  when  human  thought  will,  so  to  speak,  be- 
come visible.  The  murderer's  thought  will  warn  his  intended 
victim,  and  the  mother  may  talk  with  her  children  in  distant 
lands.  The  thought,  the  substance,  will  go  where  it  is  sent. 
It  will  bring  about  communion  between  the  spheres.  In  realms 
above  us  this  has  long  been  true. 

If,  after  dissolution,  which  on  earth  we  call  death,  a  dis- 
embodied soul-atom  wishes  to  see  a  wife  or  child  or  friend  who 
has  gone  before,  what  may  happen?  This,  perhaps:  As  the 
power  of  motion  is  inherent  (Sec.  9)  and  the  power  of  direction 
persistent  (Sec.  14),  then,  as  soon  as  both  parties  wish  to  meet, 
no  matter  wnere  they  may  be  located,  they  may  approach  each 
other  with  incredible  speed.  No  matter  what  the  distance  or 
direction,  if  they  wish  to  meet,  they  immediately  move  toward 
each  other  and  by  a  mental  pull  speedily  unite. 

In  the  first  case,  telepathy,  messengers  are  sent;  in  the 
second  the  atom  goes  itself.  But  in  the  higher  life  telepathy 
is  most  wondrously  developed ;  and  messages  are  sent  from  con- 
stellation to  constellation.  Many  such  messages  reach  the 
earth,  but  few  of  all  have  the  intelligence  or  capacity  to  appre- 
hend and  understand  them. 


62       THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  I TH URIEL. 

Sec.  56. — The  Telepathic  Gift.  As  thought  is  a  substance, 
and  as  in  man  its  movement  and  control  reside  in  the  Ego- 
atom,  it  is  possible  for  one  person  to  throw  a  thought  into  an- 
other. This  can  be  done  silently,  and  even  secretly,  as  well  as 
openly.  If  done  silently  and  secretly,  the  receiver,  as  in  wireless 
telegraphy,  must  be  in  tune  and  must  be  present  to  take  the 
message;  he  must  he  willing  to  receive  it;  the  sounding-board 
and  the  operator  must  both  be  present.  If  the  receiver  himself 
is  awake,  then  the  operator  is  present,  and  it  is  only  further  then 
needed  that  the  machine  should  be  in  tune.  Both  rarely  happen. 
The  third  requisite,  coincident,  is  that  the  message  be  sent 
when  both  of  said  conditions  exist.  Spoken  words  uttered  at 
the  right  time  to  persons  in  the  right  condition,  as  we  all  well 
know,  are  very  powerful.  Silent  messages  may  be  made  equally 
powerful. 

There  are  some  persons  who  are  naturally  receptive;  who 
are  in  tune  during  frequent  periods  and  who-can  receive  thoughts 
and  ideas  from  a  distance  and  from  silent  potential  thinkers. 
The  former  persons  are  by  nature,  or  by  training,  telepathic ; 
and  can  receive  thought  impressions  from  anywhere;  from  any 
distant  city,  from  any  distant  world,  from  any  distant  constella- 
tion. The  only  question  with  the  thought,  as  with  a  cannon, 
is,  "How  far  will  it  carry;  will  it  carry  far  enough  to  reach  the 
mark?" 

As  thought  is  a  substance,  the  act  of  talking  is  the  sending 
of  a  message  from  one  person  to  another,  the  sending  of  a  mes- 
sage from  one  atom-nation  to  another;  it  is  the  sending  of  a 
special  embassy  from  one  empire  to  another.  Thus  it  is  that 
dying  children  sometimes,  from  a  distance,  announce  their 
deaths  to  mothers;   thus  it  is  that  in  silence,  at  times,   minds 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 63 

are  read ;  thus  it  is  that  we  get  ideas  we  know  not  from  where ; 
thus  it  is  that  at  times  we  feel  a  sunshine  which  we  cannot  see. 
Most  of  us  are  too  coarse.  Most  of  us  have  recruited  our  atom- 
nations  from  too  low  a  race ;  most  of  us  are  too  rudely  organized  ; 
most  of  us  do  not  live  the  lives  which  will  attract  the  best  volun- 
teers to  our  service.  Hence  the  Telepathic  gift  is  rare,  but  by- 
proper  living  it  may  be  acquired,  and  in  the  distant  future  it 
will  be  born  in  men  hke  hearing.  The  thoughts  and  minds  of  all 
people  at  some  future  time  may  be  like  an  open  book,  to  be  read 
by  those  who  will. 

Sec.  57. — Emotions.  In  the  same  manner  that  thought  is  a 
substance,  even  so  are  emotions  substances.  Even  as  grasses, 
in  almost  incredible  variations,  abound,  so  do  emotions.  As  in- 
sects differ,  even  so  do  emotions.  Revenge  is  a  substance,  hate 
is  a  substance,  and  so  are  anger  and  pride.  Each  differs  from 
each,  and,  in  greater  or  lesser  numbers,  they  form  portions  of 
the  population  of  the  atom-nation  called  ^'Man."  Love,  Hope 
and  Loyalty,  these  are  also  substances,  and  form  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  the  population  of  the  atomic  nation.  These  sub- 
stances are  all  emigrants ;  are  all  migratory.  What  in  the  line 
of  progress  and  improvement  should  the  nation  do  ?  Obviously 
the  immigration  of  the  best  should  be  encouraged  and  the  ports 
closed  against  the  bad.  Again,  the  best  should  be  befriended 
and  the  bad  exiled.  There  should  be  no  room  for  vanity,  hatred, 
and  revenge ;  there  should  be  promotion  for  fidelity,  tenderness, 
and  hope. 

It  can  be  accomplished  in  this  way :  First,  A  pure  man  must 
live  on  pure  food,  on  domesticated  food  in  Heu  of  wild  food. 
He  must  live  on  the  best  food  attainable ;  the  best  is  as  yet  none 
too  good.     As  we  emerge  from  barbarism  the  quality  will  grow 


64 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

better  and  better.  Second,  No  power,  promotion  or  control 
should  be  given  to  the  worst  element;  there  must  be  no  out- 
bursts of  passion ;  the  man  must  not  give  way  to  vanity,  hatred, 
or  revenge.  AVhen  long  ignored  and  given  no  hand  in  public 
affairs,  these  baser  beings  go  where  they  can  get  support,  au- 
thority, and  recognition.  They  exile  themselves ;  if  not  exiled 
they  undergo  a  vital  improvement  by  mere  contact  with  a 
strong  majority  capable  of  controlling  them  and  holding  them 
in  order. 

Hence  it  is  important  to  feed  right  and  think  right;  and 
right  thinking  is  as  important  as  right  living.  Not  that  it  so 
very  greatly  benefits  the  individual  who  does  the  living  and 
thinking,  but  that  his  children  and  his  children's  children,  for  all 
time,  feel  it.  A  man  who  feeds  on  broiled  lobsters  and  cham- 
pagne leaves  a  frightful  heritage  to  his  children.  So,  the  emo- 
tions may  be  allured  as  immigrants,  favored  as  friends,  or  ban- 
ished as  foes. 

Sec.  58. — Force.  There  can  be  no  force  except  as  some  sub- 
stance is  moved.  If  a  horse  runs,  of  its  own  accord  or  by  reason 
of  a  mental  impulse,  force  is  developed,  just  the  same  as  is  de- 
veloped by  the  firing  of  a  cannon ;  it  is  only  a  difference  between 
original  and  communicated  motion.  As  atoms  have  original 
motion  they  can  in  combination  develop  aggregated  motion. 
As  they  have  intelligence  they  can  originate  collective  motion. 
Corpuscles  have  and  do  acquire  habitual  motion.  The  lower 
the  intelligence  the  more  iron-clad  and  inexorable  becomes  the 
rule  of  the  acquired,  habitual  motion.  There  is  nothing  more 
adamantine  than  ignorance. 

The  forces  of  light,  heat  and  electricity  are  original,  but  are 
so  fixed  within  narrow  lines  by  vast  eons  of  exercise  and  a  low 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL.       65 

intelligence  that  their  phenomena  are  relied  upon  as  ^'con- 
stants." Just  as  we  know  that  roses  will  bloom  in  June  and 
that  salmon  will  leave  the  deep  ocean  and,  at  a  certain  time, 
swim  as  far  as  possible  up  a  fresh- water  river;  these  also  are  con- 
stants. 

We  also  have  reason  to  know  that  electricity  is  composed 
of  various  sizes  and  forms  of  corpuscles ;  so  that  Electricity  may 
be  divided  into  various  kinds  and  families  with  various  habits 
and  powers.  And  so  is  heat.  We  have  already  stated  that 
light  is  a  compound  of  many  substances.  So  from  the  finest 
variety  of  electricity  to  the  coarsest  variety  of  heat,  there  is  a 
gamut  of  self-originating  compound  force.  And  each  note  in 
the  ascending  scale  is  represented  by  a  corpuscle  different  in 
size,  texture,  habits,  purposes,  and  intelUgence.  These  form  a 
great  variety  of  ''rays."  But  we  poor  mortals  are  obliged  to 
classify  them,  after  a  fashion,  as  if  we  said,  of  living  things, 
"these  are  beasts,  these  are  birds,  these  are  fishes."  The  mo- 
tions of  each  of  them,  or  of  either  of  them,  constitute  a  "force," 
but  it  is  not  a  "blind  force," — there  is  no  such  thing  as  "blind 
force" ;  all  force  has  intelligence  behind  it,  weak  or  stolid  though 
it  be. 

Sec.  59. — Light.  Light  is  a  compound  substance.  It  is 
composed  of  corpuscles.  From  the  sun  it  comes  to  us  in  the 
nature  of  a  bombardment.  All  shapes  and  sizes  are  represented. 
Hydrogen,  iron,  uranium,  all  come  as  light  with  vast  velocity  but 
with  little  momentum.  Some  of  these  projectiles  are  as  bird- 
shot  compared  to  others,  which  range  up  to  the  size  as  of  cannon 
balls.  Mixed  up  and  mingled  together,  without  order  or  method, 
they  come  in  a  constant  stream,  big  and  little,  to  our  earth  from 
the  sun  and  stars.    AVhen  they  strike  a  prism  they  are  sifted  and 


66 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

sorted  out;  this  we  see  in  the  spectrum  and  in  Fraunhofer's 
Hues.  Gold,  iron  and  other  metals  come  to  us  even  from  the 
most  distant  stars.  These  corpuscles  are  exceedingly  small, 
but  are  true  to  type  and  faithful  to  characteristics.  They  fill 
our  soil  with  metals  which  with  gregarious  instinct  gather  into 
groups,  or,  entering  into  hving  combinations,  are  educated  into 
higher  forms.  Every  living  thing  welcomes  the  advent  of  these 
immigrants  and  thrives  upon  their  industry  and  cooperation. 
They  are  so  small  that  they  penetrate  the  spacious  structure  of 
the  air  and  pass  through  its  texture  like  brisezes  through  the  open 
framework  of  a  trellis.  Although  exceedingly  minute,  these  cor- 
puscles of  light  by  vastness  of  numbers,  and  constant  arrival, 
slowly  build  up  the  volume  of  the  earth.  The  Earth  is  an  island 
in  the  ocean  of  the  universe;  by  its  present  facilities  it  gives 
promise  of  present  advantage,  and  future  progress,  and  has  be- 
come an  attraction  to  immigration.  Light  does  not  shine 
vaguely  out  and  waste  itself  meaninglessly  in  empty  space;  it 
goes  from  sun  to  planet  and  from  star  to  star.  It  leaves  no 
source  without  a  purpose,  and  seeks  only  an  established  destina- 
tion. Emigration  from  Liverpool  to  America,  although  it  may 
comprise  all  sizes,  nationalities  and  tongues,  still  has  a  destina- 
tion and  does  not  go  blindly  across  the  Atlantic,  contented  to 
land  on  Labrador,  the  Bermudas,  or  Brazil.  And  so  it  is  with 
light.  It  goes  direct  to  an  objective  point.  It  does  not  ven- 
ture out  into  nothingness. 

Sec.  go.  —  Heat.  The  difficulty  in  the  conception  of  light 
is  that  iis  particles  are  so  wonderfully  fine.  The  corpuscles 
of  air  and  water  are  gigantic  in  comparison  with  it.  Its  fine- 
ness is  such  as  almost  to  baffle  contemplation,  and  yet  there  are 
substances  still  finer,  and  others  in  all  grades  of  coarseness  up  to 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 67 

visibility.  Heat  is  a  substance  coarser  than  light.  If  a  damp 
sponge  be  placed  upon  an  anvil,  and  smitten  with  a  sledge,  traces 
of  moisture  may  be  perceived  upon  the  face  of  the  anvil.  If  the 
face  of  the  anvil  be  itself  smitten  with  the  sledge  we  find  a  trace 
of  heat.  The  heat  and  moisture  both  appear  pursuant  to  the 
same  common  principle  —  the  compression  caused  by  the  blow. 
Heat  is  coarser  than  light,  but  flows  with  it  from  the  sun,  the 
same  as  pulverized  granite  flows  with  the  water  in  the  Missouri 
river.  Heat  is  everywhere.  Water  is  but  a  lava  flowing 
melted  from  a  rock  known  as  ice.  Heat  when  quiet  is  a  sub- 
stance diflftcult  to  detect.  It  has  strange,  lethargic  habits. 
Like  a  groundhog,  when  unearthed  it  immediately  seeks  another 
covert.  We  burn  heat  into  the  lime  and  slack  it  out  again.  It  is 
nutritious,  and  we  mix  it  with  most  of  our  foods.  It  is  part  of 
our  living.  Ever}^thing  is  filled  with  it,  and  abrasion  releases  it. 
It  is  latent  and  dormant,  but  may  be  quickly  aroused  by  us  if  we 
know  how.  It  exists  in  granite  the  same  as  in  wood;  some  day 
we  will  stumble  upon  some  substance  that  being  introduced  to 
granite  will  cause  its  disintegration  and  the  release  of  its  stored- 
up  heat.  Coming  from  the  sun,  great  quantities  of  it  are  har- 
bored in  the  air,  together  with  light  and  other  substances.  The 
habits  of  heat  are  different  from  those  of  light.  Light,  heat, 
electricity  and  magnetism  are  each  different  substances,  and  al- 
though found  together  they  have  entirely  different  habits,  as 
have  insects,  animals  and  birds  found  in  the  same  forest.  Heat 
is  coarser,  more  docile,  less  ambitious,  more  languid  than  the 
others;  hence  its  manners,  habits  and  customs  are  entirely 
different  from  the  others.  It  is  often  found  with  light  and 
electricity,  just  as  horses  are  often  found  with  sheep  and  cattle. 

■-     ^EC.  61. — Fire.     If  we  should  be  w^alking  over  the  prairie  at 


68  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  IT H URIEL. 

noonday,  in  summer,  everything  would  be  quiet  and  in  a  state 
of  repose;  but,  as  we  proceeded  through  the  high  grass,  from 
time  to  time  we  would  be  startled  by  the  rising  droves  of  prairie- 
chickens,  anon  by  the  boisterous  whirr  of  flocks  of  startled 
quails.  We  would  also  see  springing  up  here  and  there,  from  the 
waving  grass,  meadow-larks,  swiftly  retreating  rabbits,  and  per- 
haps an  occasional  wolf.  These  all  have  their  habits  and  their 
lairs.     When  crowded  from  one  they  seek  another. 

Light  and  heat  are  not  very  intellectual,  not  very  wise,  and 
not  very  gregarious,  but  the  latter  is  more  gregarious  than  the 
former;  much  more  deliberative  and  much  more  combative. 
Corpuscles  of  heat  are  as  different  from  those  of  light  as  a  wolf 
in  the  forest  is  different  from  a  whippoorwill.  AVhen  the  shelters 
within  which  heat  and  light  have  ensconced  themselves  are 
torn  down  rapidly,  and  the  flight  of  the  corpuscles  of  light  and 
heat  toward  other  asylums  becomes  visible,  it  is  called  ''fire." 
When  it  becomes  visible  and  we  say  that  the  fire  has  consumed 
something,  we  make  an  error;  the  structure  within  which  heat 
and  light  were  concealed  has  been  broken  up  and  made  into 
something  else,  which  affords  less  capacity  for  concealment; 
nothing  has  been  destroyed:  the  house  has  simply  been  torn 
down  and  the  tenants  have  moved  into  another.  All  condensa- 
tion of  substances  produces  this  effect. 

The  sun  has  been  shining  upon  the  earth  since  the  latter  was 
as  large  as  an  apple ;  the  earth  has  been  slowly  built  up  by  ac- 
cretion and  has  been  saturated  with  heat.  Under  the  operation 
of  the  faculty  of  gregariousness  the  substances  of  which  the 
earth  is  composed  slowly  settle  to  the  center  denser  and  denser. 
The  more  gregarious  substances  will  crowd  out  the  less.  Hence, 
heat  will  continue  to  be  crowded  out,  and  it  will  escape  through 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  IT H URIEL. 69 

volcanoes  and  othen\dse.  The  interior  of  the  earth  is  not 
molten ;  quite  the  contrary.  When  heat  is  crowded  out  slowly 
we  see  no  fire;  this  is  constantly  going  on,  as  when  wood  is 
rotting  or  iron  rusting. 

Sec.  62. — Electricity.  I  once  heard  a  soldier  of  the  Civil 
War  say  that  on  the  march  to  the  rear  of  Vicksburg,  ^' There 
were  fleas,  chiggers,  seed-ticks  and  mosquitoes  all  working  at 
once."  Although  these  insects  are  each  small,  they  differ  from 
one  another  as  a  horse  from  an  ox.  The  small  and  microscopic 
forms  of  life  differ  from  one  another  as  much  as  those  which  are 
larger.  Electricity  is  composed  of  corpuscles  smaller  than  those 
of  Hght,  and  can  go  where  light  cannot,  just  as  Ught  can  go  where 
electricity  cannot.  They  are  as  different  as  the  flea  and  the 
mosquito.  Light  is  scarcely  gregarious,  electricity  is  intensely 
so.  It  goes  like  a  drove  of  sheep.  It  wants  to  go  all  together. 
It  comes  to  us  from  the  sun  and  the  stars  along  with  light  and 
heat.  The  earth  is  saturated  with  it.  As  the  coarser  heat  is 
crowded  out,  the  finer  substance,  electricity,  crowds  in.  The 
more  gregarious  takes  the  place  of  the  less  gregarious;  hence 
heat  is  always  flowing  out  and  electricity  always  flowing  in. 
The  air  as  well  as  the  earth  is  more  or  less  saturated  with  each. 
The  vast  difference  between  them  may  be  easily  shown  thus: 
Through  plate-glass  light  goes  swiftly,  heat  slowly,  and  electricity 
not  at  all ;  through  plate-copper  electricity  goes  swiftly,  heat 
slowly,  and  light  not  at  all. 

In  the  formation  of  the  human  body  vast  numbers  of  these 
corpuscles  are  needed.  They  are  constantly  recruited,  edu- 
cated, and  discharged.  Man,  as  before  stated,  is  something 
of  a  university.  For  duty  as  messengers  and  couriers,  along  the 
nerves,  electricity-recruits  are  always  and  constantly  necessary. 


70 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

With  light  and  heat  the  same.  To  a  greater  or  less  degree  it  is 
true,  as  to  every  crystal,  tree  or  animal,  that  they  are  univer- 
sities, and  need  constantly  the  service  of  skilled  messengers. 

Sec.  63. — Thinking.  Man,  an  atom- nation,  thinks  in  the 
same  manner  that  any  other  nation  thinks.  A  national  thought, 
as  distinguished  from  an  individual  thought,  is  expressed  in  two 
ways:  one,  is  by  a  public  law  duly  enacted;  the  other,  is  by 
pubHc  sentiment,  openly  asserted  and  believed  to  be  based  on 
law,  written  or  unwritten.  Both  of  these  are  the  product  of  a 
combined  national  effort,  and  whether  just  or  unjust,  conceded 
or  resisted,  are  known  to  all  the  nation,  or,  at  least,  to  all  who 
care  to  know.  These  national  thoughts,  expressed  in  positive 
written  law  or  in  manifest  public  sentiment,  knowable  to  all  the 
nation,  profoundly  affect  the  nation,  and  everything  within  the 
nation, — its  policy,  its  internal  administration,  its  existence,  and 
its  happiness.  It  is  so  with  the  atom-nation  of  man:  his 
thoughts  affect  the  atom-nation.  Within  the  atom-nation  these 
thoughts  are  public  thoughts,  and  within  the  nation  they  are 
mighty  factors.  Thoughts  that  linger  on  malice,  revenge,  greed 
and  cruelty  bring  about  maladministration,  corrupt  govern- 
ment, and  produce  social  discontent.  Then  the  good  and  capa- 
ble atoms  emigrate,  and  hunt  in  other  lands  for  better  homes. 
The  man,  like  the  nation,  must  hold  his  people,  must  give  them 
good  thoughts  (laws),  must  exercise  a  firm  but  kindly  sway, 
must  make  his  realm  attractive. 

The  rules  of  nations  are  the  same,  big  or  little ;  whether  an 
atom-nation  such  as  man  or  an  empire  of  men  such  as  Rome, — ■ 
the  rule  is  the  same;  greatness  results  from  rectitude,  internal 
justice,  and  administrative  propriety.  These  qualities  attract 
genius,  talent  and  capability  from  abroad  and  rob  other  empires 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  I TH URIEL. 71 

of  their  most  potent  and  most  valued  forces.  Hence  it  is  that 
a  man  dull,  slow  and  insipid  can  by  proper  thinking  build  him- 
self up.  While  he  cannot  by  taking  thought  add  a  cubit  to  his 
corporeal  stature  he  can  by  taking  proper  thought  add  vastly  to 
his  social  and  intellectual  stature.  The  Ego-atom  can  so  gov- 
ern his  kingdom  that  he  can  make  it,  hke  the  court  of  Dionysius, 
a  place  where  lovers  of  science,  art  and  philosophy  may  wish  to 
congregate  and  dwell.  Thus  the  Ego-atom  by  attracting  to  and 
around  itself  the  best  there  is  may  constantly  improve. 

Sec.  64. — Thought.  As  stated  hereinbefore,  the  process  of 
thinking  is  analogous  in  man  to  the  process  of  legislation  in  a 
State.  .A  mind  and  a  parliament  act  the  same  way.  As  a  State 
cannot  pass  a  law  without  its  being  known,  so  a  man  cannot 
think  a  thought  without  its  being  known  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  thinker.  The  moment  a  m.an  thinks  the  whole  body  knows 
it.  A  man  cannot  think  without  he  knows  he  thinks.  He  can- 
not see  unless  he  knows,  he  sees.  Parliament  may  debate,  but 
if  it  comes  to  no  conclusion  then  no  national  thought  has  been- 
expressed,  but  when  one  is. expressed  the  nation  knows  it;  its 
promulgation  immediately  takes  place  through  a  messenger  ser- 
vice already  established  and  provided.  The  parliamentary 
process  of  enacting  the  law  is  one  effort,  the  promulgation  of  the 
law  is,  another.  One  is  the  act  of  a  body  of  legislators,  the  other 
of  a  body  of  messengers.  The  law  itself  may  be  a  mere  abstrac- 
tion; its  promulgation  is  the.  work  of  many,  very  many. 

In  man  the  whole  body  thinks,  also  its  parliament,  drawn 
from  the  whole  body,  thinks.  As  soon  as  a  thought  is  generated 
it  is  messaged.  By  these  messengers  the  thought  is  promul- 
gated. Every  thought  has  its  messengers.  So,  therefore,  in 
the  atom-empire,  a  thought,  in  one  sense,  is  a  substance.     It  is 


72  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 


a  substance  in  this,  that  it  would  forever  remain  mute,  invisible 
and  unknown  unless  expressed  by  substance, — that  is,  unless 
promulgated  by  messengers.  The  atomic  messengers  of  thought 
may  be  smaller  than  light  and  swifter  than  electricity.  If  a 
thing  has  no  existence  except  through  the  mediumship  of  sub- 
stance, then,  though  not  a  substance,  we  may  safely  treat  it  and 
handle  it  as  a  substance,  because  there  is  no  other  way  to  treat 
or  handle  it. 

Sec.  65. — Free  Will.  To  what  extent  in  its  upward  course 
can  the  Ego-atom  control  its  flight?  Have  we  no  free  will? 
Do  we  all  move  in  the  direction  of  least  resistance?  Is  our 
course  framed  by  the  net  preponderance  of  force  ?  Are  we  gov- 
erned by  everything  and  yet  do  we  govern  nothing?  These 
questions  and  a  thousand  others  like  them  and  deducible  from 
them  are  answered  ^^  Yes"  by  many,  but  by  us  they  must  be  met 
with  a  confident  and  unyielding  ^'No!" 

On  the  upper  Mississippi  at  Lake  Pepin  a  log  raft  is  launched ; 
its  destination  New  Orleans.  Equipped  with  a  steering-oar 
both  in  front  and  rear  it  starts  upon  its  way.  Behind  it  is  the 
current  of  the  river  as  an  irresistible  force,  and  the  raft  must  be 
carefully  steered  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  tortuous  channel. 
The  shores  are  strewn  with  many  wrecks,  and  there  are  but  a 
few  degrees  of  the  compass  which  the  pilot  can  control.  A  little 
to  the  right  or  a  little  to  the  left  is  his  arc  of  option;  but  it  is 
his  arc  of  safety.  The  power  which  bears  him  on  is  a  benefit 
and  not  an  evil ;  and  the  arc  of  option  is  large  enough  to  permit 
him  to  reach  his  destination. 

Life  is  a  question  of  steerage;  if  we  let  go  of  the  oar-pole 
we  will  find  our  lives  sooner  or  later  wrecked.  Far  ahead  of  every 
soul-atom  is  the  ever-distant  goal ;   and  down  the  vast  river  of 


The  autobiography  of  ithuriel. t3 

eternity  we  may  confidently  float,  knowing  that  from  whatever 
direction  impelUng  winds  may  blow  we  have  a  power  behind 
us_,  and  always  an  arc  of  steerage,  an  arc  of  option,  which,  though 
very  small,  if  properly  made  use  of  will  take  us  where  we  wish 
to  go.  And  we  get  there  by  making  intelligent  and  selective 
use  of  preponderating  forces. 

Sec.  66. — Prayer.  Those  who  are  above  us  have  lost  the 
recollection  of  what  transpired  below,  the  same  as  we  have  lost 
the  recollection  of  our  former  lives.  It  is  well  that  it  is  so.  It 
is  well  that  our  present  courage  is  not  chilled  by  the  recollection 
of  a  thousand  failures.  We  cannot  remember  when  we  were 
rocks  and  plants,  birds  and  beasts,  yet  we  know  now  by  recent 
inquiry  more  about  them  than  they  know  about  themselves. 
The  dog  knows  but  little  of  himself,  but  we  know  much.  So  of 
those  above  us :  they  do  not  remember  when  they  lived  on  earth, 
do  not  remember  us,  yet  they  know  more  about  us  than  we  know 
about  ourselves.  Do  they  listen  to  our  prayers?  Men  and 
women  for  millenniums  have  prayed,  and  have  believed,  through 
all  these  years,  that  from  time  to  time  some  of  their  prayers  were 
answered.  Not  all  are  believed  to  have  been  answered,  but  so 
many  have  been  answered  that  it  is  a  concurrent  belief  of  all 
races  and  all  ages  that  prayers  are  at  times  answered.  These 
prayers  are  directed  to  the  sun,  the  moon,  to  wooden  idols,  to 
trees,  to  men  who  never  existed,  to  imaginary  women,  to  winds, 
to  clouds,  to  streams,  to  things  which  have  ceased  to  be  animate 
and  to  substances  which  have  never  been  animate.  Prayers 
are  but  wishes,  and  all  wishes  are  prayers,  addressed  to  whom  it 
may  concern.  Every  fervent  wish  is  a  substance  which  hurtling 
through  space  may  in  its  course,  with  telepathic  force,  strike 
some  responsive  wire.     He  who  is  fervent  in  prayer  may  get  a 


74 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHVRIEL. 

reply  consistent  with  his  fervor.  The  wish  is  all  that  is  neces- 
sary; it  does  not  need  to  be  mailed  to  the  proper  address.  The 
prayers  are  few  that  are  answered  or  that  should  be  answered. 
It  is  useless  to  pray  against  the  established  order  of  things.  It 
is  idle  to  besiege  the  Supreme  Ruler  to  change  general  laws.  It 
is  idle  to  ask  a  suspension  of  the  rules.  An  emperor  cannot 
listen  to  the  quarreling  of  ants.  It  is  our  duty  to  play  our  several 
parts  in  the  current  sequence  of  events,  and  not  criticise  the 
administration.  So  there  are  very  few  things  to  pray  for.  We 
will  refer  to  this  again. 

Sec.  67. — Answers  to  Prayer.  But  as  we  play  our  parts 
from  day  to  day  there  is,  as  has  been  shown,  a  certain  freedom 
of  will.  We  have  no  right  to  ask  that  things  be  done  for  us  to 
the  detriment  of  others.  We  have  no  right  to  ask  for  wealth, 
conquest,  or  power.  We  have  no  right  to  ask  for  help  to  obtain 
advantage  over  others,  because  we  do  not  wish  others  helped  to 
obtain  advantages  over  us.  We  must  achieve  what  we  get;  we 
must  do  it  ourselves.  This  limits  our  right-of-prayer  to  very 
tiny  boundaries. 

Prayers  are  answered  only  when  they  pertain  to  our  mental 
and  spiritual  wants  and  conditions.  We  may  ask  for  spiritual 
and  mental  blessings.  Those  above  us  who  cannot  interfere 
with  the  established  order  can  help  us  here.  Here  is  where 
prayer  has  been  undoubtedly  answered.  The  records  of  the 
human  race  show  that  here  are  cases  which  can  be  proven.  The 
human  race  is  not  so  blind  and  dense  as  to  have  been  wholly  de- 
ceived so  long  as  to  this.  It  sees  clearer  from  year  to  year. 
The  crutches  that  hang  up  in  the  churches  of  Christendom, 
erroneously  called  the  result  of  miracles,  show  that  spiritual  and 
mental  help  has  been  given  to  man  in  response,  from  time  to 


TitE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP  ITHURIEL.  75 


time,  to  his  fervent  mental  wishes.     Indeed,  here  is  where  help 
begins  and  ends. 

As  the  mind  controls  the  body,  so  assistance  to  the  mind 
is  assistance  to  the  body.  Therefore,  when  we  pray,  the  prayer 
should  be  for  mental  and  spiritual  help  and  betterment.  We  may 
not  get  it,  but  it  is  the  only  kind  we  can  get ;  and  if  we  do  get 
it  we  may  be  bettered  and  we  may  be  cured.  If  the  body  has 
passed  beyond  the  control  of  the  mind,  we  may  not  be  cured. 
The  only  response  to  our  prayers  must  be  into  and  through  our- 
selves. It  is  something  sent  to  us  and  into  us  like  an  ambassa- 
dor, like  a  missionary  to  the  heathen :  it  may  do  us  some  good 
and  it  may  not.  The  miracle  is  the  fact  that  the  ambassador  is 
sent,  and  not  what  he  does  when  he  has  come.  Water  cannot 
be  turned  into  wine;  the  Supreme  Being  cannot  do  that,  but 
to  every  soul  a  messenger  may  be  sent  who  can  give  advice  and 
assistance  in  the  puzzling  details  of  its  administration. 

Sec.  68. — Miracles.  There  are  no  miracles;  the  Supreme 
Being  cannot  work  one ;  He  cannot  turn  water  into  wine.  An 
emperor  is  not  able  to  turn  a  regiment  of  infantry  into  a  college 
of  surgeons.  He  can  disband  the  regiment  and  he  can  create 
a  college  of  surgeons,  but  not  from  the  same  men.  Atoms,  being 
indestructible,  cannot  be  transformed  into  anything  else.  Atoms 
gain  their  own  knowledge  and  experience;  when  it  is  gained 
it  cannot  be  taken  away  from  them.  In  order  to  form  wine, 
certain  atoms  must  be  assembled  and  organized;  they  must 
be  atoms  that  have  had  grape-experience.  This  experience  can- 
not be  given  to  them  by  the  mere  direction  or  will  of  any  out- 
sider. The  Supreme  Being  possesses  vast  power  and  wisdom, 
but  He  is  an  atom  himself;  around  Him  is  his  vast  following, 
ready  and  willing  to  do  His  bidding ;   but.  He  cannot  create  an 


76 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 

atom,  and  He  cannot  by  mere  will  give  it  any  intrinsic  endow- 
ment. Thus  He  himself  has  his  limitations,  and  is  bound  by 
law,  the  law  of  existence,  which,  created  by  no  mind,  has  en- 
acted itself,  and  is  fundamental, — having  been  wrought  out  in 
the  struggle  to  go  forward,  in  which  movement  the  Supreme 
Being,  as  an  atom,  together  with  all  other  atoms,  has  partici- 
pated. He  rules,  reigns  and  commands  by  virtue  of  his  wisdom 
and  experience ;  He  cannot  be  deprived  of  that  wisdom  and  ex- 
perience ;  nor  can  the  humblest  atom  be  deprived  of  its  wisdom 
and  experience.  Hence  the  law  is  inflexible  as  to  all,  and  it 
cannot  be  disobeyed,  even  if  an  atom  ever  so  powerful  desired 
to  disobey  it.  It  cannot  be  broken,  because  it  is  absolutely  in- 
frangible. There  may  be  laws  that  can  be  broken  or  suspended, 
but  the  one  law  of  atomic  existence, — it  is  steadfast,  immuta- 
ble and  irrepealable. 

Sec.  69. — Civilization.  Civilization  may  be  likened  to  a 
procession  with  a  Transcendent  Man  at  its  head.  Near  the  rear 
of  the  procession  is  the  crystal,  and  back  of  it  is  the  unaffihated, 
lonesome,  wild,  solitary  atom.  Man  in  his  highest  estate  re- 
quires the  support  of  the  highest  beneath  him.  There  must  be 
civilized,  cultivated  animals,  varied  in  species,  habits  and  con- 
stituency, below  him.  Below  these  animals  must  be  cultivated 
grasses  and  foods.  Below  these  grasses  must  be  soils  prepared 
by  tillage  and  fertilization.  Then  as  an  adjunct  to  the  soil  there 
must  be  the  climate,  without  which,  in  a  proper  form,  civilization 
cannot  exist.  So  it  is  the  duty  of  man,  to  himself,  that  he  seek 
the  best  places  and  cause  many  better  blades  of  grass  to  grow 
where  only  one  grew  before.  It  is  his  duty  to  make  the  blue- 
grass  supplant  the  buffalo-grass;  the  Jersey  cow,  the  elk;  the 
sheep,  the  coyote.     It  is  his  duty  to  be  constantly  domesticating 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 77 

wild  animals,  such  as  are  worth  it  and  have  the  proper  tendency. 
It  is  his  duty  to  exterminate  such  as  lack  value  and  disposition ; 
they  are  unfortunate  offshoots  from  the  main  line  of  progress 
and  civilization.  The  world  would  be  better  off  if  there  were  no 
hawks,  no  tigers,  no  snakes,  no  alligators,  no  sharks;  and  a 
thousand  others, — insects,  birds,  beasts,  and  reptiles.  It  is  the 
duty  of  the  kind,  the  humane  and  the  gentle,  paradoxical  as  it 
may  seem,  to  destroy  such  other  forms  of  life.  And  so,  as  we  go, 
the  fields  may  be  fertilized  with  phosphates  taken  from  the 
quarry  and  with  the  half-educated  refuse  from  the  stables ;  the 
soil  may  be  asked  to  produce  corn  while  we  kill  the  weeds ;  the 
domestic  animals  may  be  asked  to  consume  the  corn  and  be- 
come the  food  of  man.  One  product  will  be  and  become  the 
distillate  of  the  other;  and  man  the  highest  result  and  develop- 
ment, so  far,  on  earth.  From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that 
all  repugnant  forces  and  products  must  be  combatted  and 
smitten  down.  Civilization  is  the  outcome  of  a  fierce  and  un- 
ending battle ;  it  is  waged  in  self-defense.  Hence  it  is  that  the 
food  of  man  should  have  in  it  as  little  as  possible  of  the  wild, 
and  his  associations  as  little  as  possible  of  the  evil. 

Sec.  70. — Evil.  There  is  always  existent  some  large,  mi- 
nority-percentage of  evil,  not  as  much  as  believed,  but  still 
enough.  There  are  some  who  think  evil,  plan  evil  and  do  evil. 
There  are  evil  minerals,  evil  plants,  evil  animals,  and  evil  men. 
These  evil- things  result  largely  from  ignorance ;  often  from  mal- 
formation and  accident.  A  snake  is  a  malformation.  A  klepto- 
maniac is  a  misfortune.  Both  the  snake  and  the  kleptomaniac 
are  the  product  of  natural  causes,  and  both  are  the  result  of 
ignorance  in  combination.  So,  evil  may  be  defined  as  ignorance ; 
that  is^  ignorance  in  combination  —  ignorance  in  things  com- 


78 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 

bined.  It  is  our  duty  to  prevent  such  combinations.  It  is  our 
duty  to  destroy  the  poison-ivy  and  the  scorpion;  and,  going 
up  higher,  to  destroy  evil  insects,  birds,  reptiles,  and  animals. 
It  is  so  in  the  world  below  man,  it  is  so  in  the  hierarchy  above. 
The  good  is  ever  pugilistic,  prone  to  combination,  and  accepting 
the  responsibility  of  battle.  Hence  the  world  is  constantly 
gro\\dng  better;  ignorance  and  evil  are  growing  scarcer,  and 
virtue  more  belligerent.  The  conflict  is  unequal,  the  good  can 
greatly  combine ;  the  evil  can  combine  but  slightly.  The  pred- 
atory make  war  upon  the  predatory,  and  coherence  between 
them  is  weak  and  feeble.  Hence  evil  is  always  fighting  a  losing 
battle.  The  time  must  come  when  it  will  be  exterminated  and 
wholly  disappear.  Meanwhile  to  the  front  the  close  and  closer 
compacted  battalions  of  goodness  will  march;  with  its  ever- 
increasing  armies  its  leaders,  will  grow  in  rank  and  experience ; 
there  can  be  but  one  outcome, — the  sovereignty  of  the  good, 
and  the  extermination  of  the  bad. 

Sec.  71. — Devil.  There  is  a  personal  God,  but  there  is  not 
a  personal  Devil,  in  the  sense  generally  expressed.  There  is 
much  of  evil  in  existence ;  there  are  many  things  that  are  bad, 
but  there  is  no  one  great  representative  personality  who  is  the 
champion  of  evil,  disorder  and  misrule,  and  who  goes  about 
'' seeking  whom  he  may  devour."  God  cannot  prevent  igno- 
rance nor  exterminate  the  result  of  it,  hence  Evil  must  continue 
to  exist  until  the  cause  is  removed  by  education,  experience,  and 
evolution.  But  the  Supreme  Being  can  destroy  its  combination ; 
can  scatter  its  organization  and  can  overthrow  its  leadership. 
When  He  has  done  this  there  will  be  just  as  much  ignorance  and 
evil  as  before,  but  it  will  be  routed,  diffused,  and  leaderless.  He 
cannot  annihilate  evil,  but  He  can  reduce  it  to  a  maximuni  of 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  I TH URIEL. 79 

inertia.  A  personal,  selfish,  malignant  Devil  cannot  exist. 
It  would  have  too  many  antagonisms  below,  around  and  above 
it.  God  cannot  prevent  the  existence  of  evils,  but  He  can  pre- 
vent their  combination.  Hence  there  is  no  such  thing  as  the 
'^spirit-of-evil"  in  the  sense  of  a  personality.  Evil  is  lonesome, 
disorganized,  solitary  and  desolate.  It  is  slowly  and  constantly 
becoming  more  enlightened,  and,  rising  in  the  scale,  growing 
better  and  better  through  the  ages,  as  stratum  by  stratum  with 
a  constant  uplift  it  gets  into  a  brighter  sunshine  and  a  higher 
life.  There  is  no  room  and  no  possibility  for  a  being,  or  a  com- 
bination, having  a  tendency  in  the  opposite  direction.  The 
buoyancy  of  the  current  will  bear  such  irresistibly  upward. 
There  being  no  personal  devil,  and  no  tendency  downward,  there 
is  and  can  be  now  no  ^^Hell,"  so  called.  The  slag  and  cinders 
of  its  ancient  fires  have  been,  long  ere  this,  covered  with  a  blue- 
grass  sward  on  which  the  bright-eyed  children  of  Progress  are 
in  multitudes  at  play. 

Sec.  72. — God.  If  progress  and  improvement  are  continuous, 
then,  in  the  lapse  of  time,  perfection  will  be  more  nearly  reached, 
if  progress  and  improvement  are  constant  factors,  some  one 
atom  during  the  flow  of  an  eternity  will  have  achieved  supremacy. 
God  is  a  natural  deduction  from  progress  and  eternity.  Given 
immortality,  progress,  and  time,  then  some  one  atom  must  be- 
come supreme. 

The  doctrine  that  there  is  no  Supreme  Being  has  no  sanction 
in  logic  or  philosophy.  If  an  object  is  moving  continuously 
in  a  given  direction,  and  toward  a  certain  point,  it  will  arrive 
there,  in  course  of  an  eternity,  no  matter  how  slowly  it  may  go 
or  how  far  off  the  point  may  be.  In  the  great  race,  which  has 
been  going  on  so  long,  one  atom  has  outdistanced  all  the  rest. 


80 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

By  virtue  of  this  He  holds  an  office,  a  position,  which  we,  in 
our  language,  call  God.  Behind  Him  are  a  vast  number  who 
constitute  a  class  which  we  may  call  a  " close  second" ;  and  other 
vast  numbers  are  in  a  myriad  of  ranks  behind.  But  this  Su- 
preme Being  is  not  omnipotent ;  He  can  do  more  than  any  other 
one,  more  than  we  can  even  dream  of  his  being  able  to  do,  but 
He  cannot  do  everything.  He  is  not  omnipresent ;  if  He 
were  everywhere  He  would  be  everything.  But,  He  can  go 
wheresoever  He  pleases.  He  is  not  omniscient.  He  knows 
more  than  any  other  one,  and  more  than  we  can  even  dream  of, 
but  He  does  not  know  everything.  He  will  know  more  and  will 
have  more  power  as  time  goes  on,  and  He  will  be  more  supreme, 
in  that  sense,  than  now,  because  He  also  is  making  progress, 
and  eternity  is  yet  unspent.  He  has  no  cause  to  stop.  He  is 
the  fortunate  one  who  commands  at  the  head  of  the  column.  We 
are  all  going  in  the  same  direction;  we  may  each  hope  in  time 
to  get  nearer  to  the  front.  In  the  infinity  of  time  we  may  over- 
take Him;  we  might, — but  it  is  an  ambitious  dream, — we  our- 
selves might  get  near  to  the  head  of  the  column.  Nothing  but 
constant  effort  and  constant  progress  can  keep  our  present 
leader  there ;  and  it  is  a  legitimate  exercise  of  faith  and  aspira- 
tion to  try  to  overtake  Him,  to  achieve  the  supremacy  and  be 
the  leader,  and  maintain  it,  if  perchance  we  may.  He  started 
even  with  us  when  we  started ;  He  started  as  humbly  as  we  did ; 
the  road  is  open  to  us,  and  eternity  is  not  yet  one-hundredth  part 
consumed.  Can  we  overtake  Him?  It  is  an  idle  but  delight- 
ful dream. 

[  END  OF  PREFACE.] 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

Ithuriel  said : 

Once  upon  a  time  I  was  an  atom,  whirling  through  space. 
I  have  been  chief  of  an  Ion.  I  have  been  king  of  a  corpuscle  of 
light;  it  was  composed  of  more  than  ten  thousand  atoms.  I 
have  been  a  crystal  time  and  time  again.  I  have  been  a  spore,  a 
fungus,  a  lily,  an  oak.  I  have  been  a  bee,  a  bird,  a  beast.  I 
have  lived  in  the  air,  in  the  water,  in  the  earth  and  on  the  earth. 
I  have  been  all  kinds  of  men,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest.  I 
have  had  a  million  mothers,  from  molecule  to  man.  I  have  been 
a  savage,  a  cannibal,  a  pagan.  I  have  lived  by  the  chase,  I  have 
praticed  law,  I  have  commanded  armies.  I  have  been  mur- 
dered, have  been  drowTied,  have  committed  suicide.  I  sailed 
with  Argo;    was  burned  in  the  circus  at  Rome. 

Afterwards,  while  enjoying  a  very  happy  earthly  existence, 
I  was  killed  by  an  accident.  Here  there  is  a  hiatus.  It  may 
be  a  year,  it  may  be  a  hundred  centuries.  We  take  no  note  of 
time  that  lies  behind  us.  We  do  not  miss  the  space  during 
which  we  sleep.  I  lost  myself.  Was  I  eaten?  Had  I  been  car- 
ried away?    Was  I  indeed  asleep?    What  had  happened.? 

2. 

It  is  a  pleasure  at  times  to  leave  memory  behind  us.  The 
earth  may  be  likened  to  a  convict  colony.  All  are  under  sen- 
tence there  for  a  definite  time  or  until  reformation.  We  are 
released  upon  good  behavior.  But  first  we  are  shackled.  Our 
souls  are  fastened  to  a  block  of  clay  which  holds  therii  down. 
If  it  breaks  off,  another  is  fastened  on,  and  we  wear  it  until  we 
are  fit  to  be  reprieved.     This  is,  of  course,  only  an  illustration. 

(83) 


84 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 

We  are  permitted  to  go  only  when  we  are  fitted  to  leave  the 
earth  and  are  entitled  to  the  promotion.  When  we  do  go  we 
leave  far  to  the  rear  our  hates,  our  shames,  our  vain  regrets, 
our  meannesses.  We  go  where  the  angers  and  revenges  of  others 
cannot  follow  us.  The  debts  we  owed  cannot  pursue  us.  We 
retain  our  experience,  but  it  is  not  coupled  with  a  memory  or  a 
pang.  We  hold  our  education,  but  it  is  unburdened  with  a  sor- 
row. Memories  are  unimportant  when  we  go  to  a  place,  and  to  a 
condition,  where  they  are  wholly  irrelevant.  Hence  when  we 
leave  the  earth  we  leave  our  memories  behind  us,  but  we  may  go 
back  and  trace  our  pedigrees  if  we  wish. 

3. 

After  my  life  on  the  world,  as  I  said  before,  there  was  a 
hiatus;  but,  whatever  its  length,  it  was  immaterial.  What  I 
do  know  is  that  I  woke  up  in  a  beautiful  world.  I  was  a  child; 
I  had  just  been  born.  Time  and  years  passed;  I  received  and 
listened  to  instructions.  I  found  out  that  the  latter  part  of 
my  former  life  had  been  spent  upon  the  earth,  and  I  began  to  take 
much  interest  in  that  planet  and  to  study  it.  Strange  were  the 
mental  faculties  of  the  members  of  the  race  into  which  I  had  been 
thrown.  They  had  a  sixth  sense — they  could  read  each  other's 
thoughts.  As  we  go  upward  we  grow  into  the  possession  of 
additional  faculties.  It  is  a  delightful  world  where  each  one 
knows  what  the  other  is  thinking  of,  and  knows  that  the  other 
knows  it.  It  does  away  with  envy,  hate,  and  malice.  These 
cannot  exist  without  being  seen,  as  in  the  clear  sunlight;  and 
they  are  blasted  by  the  light.  Hence  it  was  a  happy  place  where 
I  was  then  newly  born. 

4. 

My  new  parents  took  care  to  instruct  me.    They  told  me 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL^ 85 

that  I  was  then  in  the  constellation  El  Moran ;  that  the  sun  and 
earth  belonged  to  this  constellation,  but  were  so  far  away  that 
the  sun  was  only  visible  as  a  star  of  the  smallest  magnitude. 
They  told  me  that  I  could  go  to  the  earth,  but  that  it  was  like 
traveling  through  a  long  and  barren  desert  to  visit  some  far-off 
oasis. 

We  did  not  do  much  talking — we  just  thought  at  each  other. 
We  used  spoken  words  only  when  we  wished  to  be  emphatic. 
On  the  planet  Algomar,  where  we  were  living,  the  inhabitants 
were  very  numerous,  and  in  shape  like  human  beings  of  the  earth, 
only  larger  and  more  finely  formed.  They  were  engaged  in  daily 
occupations,  were  constant  and  active  workers,  and  were  always 
talking  about  fitting  themselves  for  a  higher  existence.  There 
was  a  great  rivalry  among  them  to  know,  to  learn  and  to  do. 
Some  were  stronger,  more  able,  more  intelUgent  than  others,  but 
there  was  a  feeling  of  fraternity  among  them  and  they  all  pulled 
together. 

5. 

The  people  of  Algomar  were  long-lived,  a  thousand  years 
or  more  (as  reckoned  on  earth),  and  they  had  time  to  accumu- 
late much  knowledge,  which  each  was  willing  to  impart  to  all. 
Some  famines  had  more  than  a  hundred  children.  There  was  no 
margin  between  the  population  and  the  supply  of  food,  for  there 
was  enough  for  all.  The  air  was  an  entirely  different  compound 
from  that  on  earth,  and  was  full  of  life  and  vigor.  All  believed 
in  a  glorious  immortahty,  going  up  step  by  step,  and  death  was 
considered  a  matter  of  course  and  contemplated  without  dread. 
The  forces  of  nature  remained  true  and  unchanging,  but  the 
power  of  mind  seemed  to  control  them;  for  instance,  the  force 
of  gravitation,  as  it  is  called,  existed,  and  all  were  bound  by  it 


86  The  autobiography  of  ithuriel. 

except  when  they  willed  against  it.  Every  person  had  the  power, 
by  a  strong  effort  of  will,  to  overthrow  or  neutralize  the  force. 
Hence  by  an  effort  of  mental  energy  each  was  free  to  go  as  he 
pleased  from  planet  to  planet,  or  from  star  to  star;  but  could 
not  leave  the  constellation.  Each  could  go  to  any  part  of  it, 
and  there  were  those  who  had  traveled  much,  although  travel 
was  dangerous.  Many  lost  their  lives  thereby,  for  they  have 
death  there  as  elsewhere.  They  could,  by  a  mental  endeavor, 
free  themselves  from  all  attraction  or  attractive  inherency,  and, 
by  a  powerful  effort,  go  where  they  willed  as  with  the  rapidity 
of  light. 

6. 
The  people  of  Algomar  always  traveled  from  place  to  place 
in  the  current  of  the  rays  of  a  star,  as  if  along  a  beaten  high- 
way; that  is,  they  traveled  in  the  highways  of  greatest  light. 
There  were  many  who  could  travel  without  danger,  or  suffering, 
but  there  were  many  more  who  could  not.  To  many,  such  trips  as 
these  were  full  of  pain  and  peril  and  were  beyond  their  range  of 
steady  will.  A  few  others  could  go  where  they  pleased.  The 
inhabitants  of  El  Moran  weighed  practically  nothing,  yet  they 
were  not  weak  or  ethereal ;  on  the  contrary,  they  were  powerful, 
vigorous  and  active.  When  one  of  them  went  from  place  to 
place  it  was,  in  weight,  but  the  transfer  of  a  feather ;  in  power, 
it  was  the  moving  of  a  giant.  They  were  light  in  weight  be- 
cause their  food  was  volatile;  they  had  no  bones  or  grosser 
formations;  they  were  each  simply  a  collection  of  atoms  held 
in  place  by  will,  and  consent.  They  could  be  as  flexible  and 
ductile  as  mist,  or,  at  will,  as  firm  and  inflexible  as  steel.  They 
could  change  their  forms  by  will  the  same  as  an  actor  in  a  play 
could  impersonate  another.    Each  one  could  assume  his  own 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 87 

form  of  beauty  and  each  one  was  beautiful  in  the  degree  of  his 
own  thoughts,  the  mind  arranging  it. 

7. 
While  this  power  of  assuming  shapes  at  will  exists,  it  is 
seldom  used,  because  no  one  can  be  deceived  by  it,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  every  one  can  read  anyone's  thoughts ;  so  no  one  would 
make  the  change  for  purposes  of  deception.  Anyone  could,  how- 
ever, at  will  change  himself  into  the  outward  form  of  a  bird  or 
an  animal,  and  immediately  again  at  will  resume  his  former  shape. 
All  could  walk  where  they  pleased;  they  were  almost  tireless; 
they  could  fly  where  they  pleased, — not  with  wings,  for  they  had 
no  wings,  but  by  mental  effort.  They  wore  clothing  to  ward  off 
the  light  on  which  they  to  some  extent  fed.  It  was  cleanly  to 
wear  clothes.  Their  temperature  was  that  of  their  surroundings ; 
they  could  travel  and  live  anywhere  where  there  was  light ;  it 
was  a  sufficient  but  not  a  strong  food. 

8. 
The  form  of  government  on  Algomar  is  democratic ;  politics 
and  public  duties  are  quite  simple,  since  everybody  can  read  any- 
body's thoughts.  After  I  had  been  in  public  life  several  hun- 
dred years  I  was  detailed  by  the  sovereign  of  the  nebula  as  a 
messenger,  and  became  used  to  traveling,  and  was  sent  on  many 
a  message  to  the  Earth,  principally  to  report  its  condition  to 
headquarters.  In  one  sense  we  looked  upon  the  Earth  as  a 
garden  where  was  slowly  developing  and  growing  a  valuable 
crop.  The  Earth  was  watched  as  a  farmer  watches  a  growing 
field  of  wheat.  Having  been  through  an  existence  on  Earth,  I 
was  pleased  to  revisit  it.  Th'ey  told  a  story  about  me  and  Adam 
and  Eve  which  was  incorrect,  yet  quite  true  to  hfe.  Adam  and 
Eve  came  before  my  time.     The  story  is  a  very,  very  old  one. 


88 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL, __^ 

The  story  ran  that  the  Devil  visited  the  Earth  and  tried  to  tempt 
Eve,  and  that  I  interfered.     Thus — 

Him  [the  Devil]  there  they  found 
Squat  like  a  toad,  close  at  the  ear  of  Eve. 

Him  thus  intent,  Ithuriel  with  his  spear 
Touched  lightly;    for  no  falsehood  can  endure 
Touch  of  celestial  temper,  but  returns 
Of  force  to  its  own  likeness.     Up  he  starts. 
Discovered  and  surprised. 

9. 

The  story  about  Adam  and  Eve,  as  I  heard  it  told,  is  about 
as  follows : 

It  was  determined  to  improve  the  grade  of  beings  on  the 
Earth.  It  would  be  a  benefit  the  same  as  it  would  be  to  improve 
the  grades  of  wheat  or  cattle  upon  a  farm.  The  higher  the 
quahty  the  better  food.  The  Earth  was  densely  populated,  but 
had  become  fitted  for  something  better.  Adam  and  Eve  were 
introduced  for  that  purpose;  they  were  not  the  first  human 
beings,  but  were  the  first  white  beings.  This  was  not  difficult; 
almost  anyone  living  in  the  upper  realms  may  be  born  at  will 
on  the  Earth.  All  they  need  do  is  to  condense  themselves  into 
a  point,  come  down  to  Earth,  enter  some  human  being  and  effect 
their  own  birth.  It  is  being  done,  by  order,  from  time  to  time. 
The  fact  that  a  man  can  be  born  of  a  virgin  is  not  uncommon  nor 
unreasonable;  it  has  been  known,  at  times,  to  have  happened. 
Married  women  have  thought  they  had  children  born  of  heaven. 
Women  as  well  as  men  have  come  from  the  upper  realms  and 
have  acted  their  parts  in  the  great  drama  on  the  stage  below. 
Many  have  been  born  on  Earth  who  have  had  the  distinction  of 
having  first  been  born  in  Heaven.     There  have  been  marked 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  I TH URIEL. 89 

eras  when  the  Earth  seemed  to  have  had,  upon  its  intellectual 
soil,  the  sowings  of  celestial  seed.  It  is  martyrdom  for  those 
who  come ;  and  disappointment,  for  they  are  controlled  by  con- 
ditions ; — but  the  grade  of  the  human  harvest  is  constantly  im- 
proved. Adam  and  Eve  were  placed  south  of  the  Caucasus,  in 
what  was  then  the  best  and  most  civilized  part  of  the  Earth; 
and  their  descendants  settled  that  portion  and  spread  far  to  the 
west  and  south  and  became  known  as  the  Caucasian  race.  The 
story  is  that  a  mythical  person,  the  Devil,  appeared  to  Eve  in 
the  form  of  a  toad  and  whispered  in  her  ear;  and  that  I  ap- 
peared and  with  my  spear  touched  him  and  made  him  assume 
his  original  and  upright  shape. 

10. 
This  story  of  Adam  and  Eve  as  stated  is  not  accurate;  it 
happened  before  my  time,  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  something 
like  it  happened.  The  placing  of  Adam  and  Eve  on  the  Earth 
was  a  well-known  fact  at  the  time;  persons  were  not  unfre- 
quently  visiting  the  Earth  from  our  constellation,  any  one  of 
whom  could  have  assumed  the  form  of  a  frog  or  any  other  ani- 
mal, and  could  have  talked  to  her.  I  know  of  no  such  person 
as  the  Devil ;  he,  whoever  he  is  or  was,  told  her  the  truth,  as  it 
then  was.  If  I  had  been  there  I  could  have  read  his  thoughts, 
penetrated  his  disguise,  and  would  no  doubt  have  notified  him 
of  the  fact,  and  he  would  have  known  what  I  thought  about  it 
and  would  have  come  out  of  his  disguise.  The  story  is  truthful 
enough  in  point  of  possibility,  but  not  so  in  fact. 

11. 

For  a  long  while  my  duties  w^ere  those  of  an  aide-de-camp. 
I  was  sent  hither  and  thither  to  get  and  report  information. 


90  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

There  were  in  our  constellation  thousands  of  worlds  which  had 
to  be  looked  after.  They  were  like  islands  in  the  sea:  some 
of  them  were  hard  to  reach.  Some  of  them  were  worthless. 
The  earth  was  a  barren  little  island,  mostly  covered  with  salt 
water.  The  productions  of  these  island-spheres  was  a  matter 
of  necessary  attention.  They  were  like  farms  or  distant  patches 
of  land  in  cultivation.  They  required  care  and  attention. 
From  them  came  some  of  our  principal  food  products.  It  was 
our  duty  to  keep  improving  and  bringing  up  to  a  higher  grade,, 
the  productions  of  these  places.  We  did  with  them  the  same 
as  a  farmer  on  the  earth  would  do  with  his  flocks  and  fields: — 
we  supervised  them.  We  transplanted  from  one  earth  to  an- 
other to  improve  the  product.  It  was  always  a  constant  fight 
between  the  lower  and  the  higher,  between  the  domesticated 
and  the  aggressive  immigrant.  Hence  the  number  of  overseers, 
or  aides-de-camp,  was  very  great;  it  was  hard  and  dangerous 
work. 

12. 
There  were  many  in  our  celestial  sphere  who  had  lived  on 
the  earth  and  had  philanthropic  wishes  and  aspirations.  Their 
notions  were  to  benefit  and  exalt  those  above  whom  they  had  so 
greatly  risen;  those  whom  they  had  been  associated  with,  but 
had  excelled.  These  higher  souls  occasionally,  as  missionaries, 
went  to  live  and  work  among  those  below.  It  was  anything  but 
pleasant  work,  but  was  of  incalculable  benefit  to  those  whom 
they  visited.  These  missionaries  to  accomplish  their  purposes 
were  obliged  to  leave  their  surroundings,  happy  as  they  were, 
and  go  to  the  earth  and  be  there  reborn,  leave  their  memories 
behind,  leave  their  happiness  behind,  and  spend  their  lives  in 
strenuous  and  often  fruitless  efforts  to  improve  and  benefit  those 


THE  Autobiography  OF  iTHURiEL. 'di 

for  whom  they  labored.  These  efforts  were  mostly  beneficial, 
but  the  benefits  often  came  late  and  at  great  cost  and  suffering. 
Some  of  these  earthly  visitors  were  men  and  some  were  women ; 
many  of  whom  were  afterwards  appreciated  and  called  "Saints." 
Some  there  were  who  made  several  visits. 

13. 

I  am  at  present  an  archangel ;  that  is,  a  supervising  messen- 
ger. I  have  certain  territory,  and  I  send  out  messengers  (angels) 
as  ordered,  supervise  their  work  and  consoHdate  their  reports. 
It  has  become  so  that  I  very  much  like  my  work.  I  am  at  home 
about  half  of  my  time.  The  place  where  I  live  on  Algomar  is 
beautifully  located ;  we  have  no  cities  as  such,  we  have  no  police 
system,  and  no  want  of  safety.  All  live  where  they  please,  be- 
cause they  can  go  as  they  please,  when  they  please,  and  as 
quickly  as  they  please.    They  can  call  each  other  up  by  thought. 

It  is  not  easy  to  describe  the  landscapes  and  vegetation  in 
any  understandable  way ;  for  instance,  magnetism  is  a  substance ; 
rivers  of  metallic  magnetism,  like  quicksilver,  flow  down  through 
broad  valleys.  There  is,  near  where  I  was  born,  a  tree  over  half 
a  mile  through  the  base  and  twenty-five  miles  high ;  it  is  of  cop- 
per; its  bark  is  a  sulphite  thrown  off  in  the  growth.  The  cop- 
per has  been  educated  apast  its  former  life-habit  of  forming  mere 
fixed  angles  of  crystallization,  and  has  become  skilled  in  the  lore 
of  vegetation  and  is  now  con^osing  and  building  trees. 

14. 

My  wife  is  a  most  beautiful  woman;    I  was  married  to  her 

once  before  while  on  earth  and  I  think  twice  before  that,  but  as 

to  the  latter  am  a  little  hazy, — but  she  says  three  times.     She 

has  located  some  of  her  former  children  and  is  happy  over  it. 


92 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

We  have  many  children  by  our  present  marriage ;  as  to  former 
existences  in  other  and  distant  spheres,  they  have  stories  and 
memories  of  their  own.  My  neighbors  are  genial,  kindly  and 
wise,  and  have  plenty  to  do  with  their  children  and  affairs; 
each  puts  in  a  fair  portion  of  his  time  in  making  others  happy. 
When  each  is  devoted  to  making  all  others  happy,  each  has  enough 
to  do.  Of  course  there  are  among  us  those  who  are  ambitious; 
this  is  well  known  to  all,  because  we  each  read  the  others' 
thoughts;  but  as  there  are  those  who  are  wiser  than  others, 
some  are  allowed  the  sway  of  their  ambitions  more  or  less ;  so, 
among  the  communities  there  are  those  who  exercise  authority 
by  concession. 

15. 
There  is  one  thing  that  always,  as  in  the  spheres  below  us, 
at  all  times  confronts  us,  and  that  is  death.  In  the  first  place, 
we  cannot  of  our  own  will  leave  our  constellation.  We  can  at  all 
times,  by  an  effort  of  will  overcome  that  power  in  the  constella- 
tion called  ''attraction,"  but  by  no  effort  of  will  can  we  leave 
the  constellation.  Death  comes  sooner  or  later  to  all.  The 
ruler  of  our  constellation  is  no  exception.  His  desire  is,  as  we 
all  know,  that  the  constellation  shall  progress  and  be  a  better 
and  better  place  to  live  in.  AVe  are  taught  that  on  our  deaths 
we  may  go  to  a  higher,  better  and  more  perfect  life,  in  a  grander 
and  better  constellation.  We  are  taught  that  there  are  above 
us,  higher  and  grander  forms  of  life  and  existence  to  which  we 
may  attain.  But  we  are  taught  that  no  one  can  or  will  leave 
this  constellation  until  fitted  for  the  next.  This  is  so  here  on 
earth,  where  men  are  born  and  born  again  until  they  have  reached 
that  mode  of  life  and  thought  that  may  be  likened  to  satiety. 
When  men  have  been  born  and  born  again  upon  the  earth  and 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITH URIEL. 93 

lived  lives  until  they  have  seen  the  shallowness  and  emptiness 
of  its  vanities  and  follies,  and  want  something  better,  then  only 
are  they  qualified  for  promotion.  As  long  as  they  are  willing  to 
continue  in  the  race  of  avarice,  or  the  scramble  of  worldly  ambi- 
tion, then  so  long  are  they  of  the  earth  earthy,  and  so  long  will 
they  stay,  and  by  so  much  slacken  their  speed  in  progress  toward 
the  goal.  No  one  can  be  sent  up  higher  until  he  is  fitted  to  go. 
This  is  a  self-imposed  and  self-inflicting  punishment.  Most 
men  will  not  be  promoted,  because  they  will  not  allow  them- 
selves to  be  promoted.  Thus  the  unworthy  do  not  leave  the 
sphere  of  Earth  for  a  higher  plane  until  by  self-imposed  effort 
they  have  procured  the  soul-equipment  for  the  higher  plane. 

16. 

As  on  the  earth,  so  in  the  place  where  I  live :  there  its  people 
are  born  and  born  again  until  they  are  fitted  for  a  still  higher  life 
on  a  still  higher  plane. 

We  know  as  little  about  what  is  above  us  as  the  people  of 
the  Earth  know  of  what  is  above  them.  So  all  of  our  teachers 
teach  us.  I  do  not  know  whether  I  am  fitted  for  a  higher  plane, 
because  I  so  much  enjoy  the  one  I  am  in.  I  probably  am  not. 
I  am  so  much  satisfied  with  my  present  existence  that  it  may  be 
long  before  I  care  to  change  it.  I  am  inclined  to  suppose  that 
there  are  missionaries  among  us  from  higher  spheres,  but  I  have 
the  same  inertia  as  the  human  race  seems  to  have  on  earth ;  I  am 
complaisant.  Perhaps  I  am  yet  too  fresh  from  the  lower  orders ; 
I  have  already  lived  in  this  one  life  in  these  beautiful  surround- 
ings more  than  a  thousand  years,  and  wish  I  might  ten  thousand 
more;  I  am  not  ready  to  leave  it,  at  least  not  prepared  in  my 
mind  so  as  to  be  wiHing. 


94 THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ITHURIEL. 

When  I  look  around  and  see  how  many  I  have  excelled  in 
the  race,  and  how  far  I  am  ahead  of  those  who  may  have  been 
my  earlier  associates,  I  have  the  mental  inertia  that  asks  no 
change. 

My  autobiography  is  the  autobiography  of  a  brief  and  suc- 
cessful career.  I  will  be  back  soon  again;  on  my  next  visit 
will  tell  you  more  about  it;  there  is  now  something  special 
which  I  wish  to  say — [this,  being  private  and  personal,  is 
omitted.] 


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